Naruto: Jinchuriki of the Six Paths
by X009
Summary: When Naruto sees Sasuke seemingly sacrifice himself for him at wave, he awakens the Rinnegan. See how its power affects his destiny. Strong Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**I finally finished this after announcing it in Naruto: Nine and Seven so long ago, sorry for those who were waiting. The Rinnegan is my favorite bloodline for Naruto to have. I'll do my best not to make him overpowered. **

**Right now, I haven't decided on the pairing. I'm thinking of having Naruto x Fu, Younger! Yugito, Temari or Kurotsuchi, at most two if them. I'm leaning towards Fu and Yugito. Please give me your opinions and suggestions on the pairing.**

**Keep in mind Naruto: Nine and Seven takes priority over this story, so updates will likely be sparse.**

**On a side note, I'm thinking about having Temari awaken her father's bloodline if she's in the pairing. I'd like to know your opinions on this. If that does happen, it wouldn't be until late in part 2.**

**Thanks to ShadowStar91 for beta reading.**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Naruto looked up from his place on the ground in disbelief at the sight before him. Sasuke, his teammate and rival… for whom he shared a mutual hatred was riddled with senbon needles, they covered his arms, legs, and torso and five were lodged in his neck. The Uchiha coughed up blood as the life giving fluid flowed from all his wounds. Sasuke felt his body getting colder… weaker… and both boys were absolutely certain he had no chance of survival.<p>

"What's… with that look… loser?" Sasuke asked as he turned his head and looked down at the blond.

"Why?" '_You saved me._' Naruto said/thought as he ran through all the events of the day in his mind. How he had woken up that day in wave to find his team missing, how he saved Inari and his mother from those two thugs. Then when he arrived at the bridge he, even he had to admit this was stupid in retrospect, announced his presence and then entered the dome of ice mirrors Sasuke was fighting the imposter hunter-nin in. Maybe, if he had concealed himself or done something different, Sasuke wouldn't be…

Sasuke thought of all his interactions with Naruto before then. He was an annoying fool, deserving the title of dead last and it was irritating that the blond seemed to think of himself as his rival. But as annoying as he was, he had saved him, likely at the cost of his own life. He didn't know why, it was just instinct. '_Maybe…_' he thought to himself, briefly remembering his family. '_It's because I didn't want to lose someone again…_' Much as he hated to admit it, Naruto and Sakura were the closest things to friends he had.

"I hated you…" Sasuke said.

"Then… why… why did you save me?" Naruto asked. "I never asked for your help!" the blond yelled, refusing to accept that someone else gave their life for him.

"I don't know." Sasuke admitted. "My body just moved on it's own… idiot."

A moment later, the black haired boy was unable to stand anymore and fell backwards. Naruto caught him and Sasuke began to say what he believed would be his last words.

"That man… my brother… I told myself I wouldn't die until I killed him." Sasuke told the blond, shocking him. "Don't let yourself die too…" the boy's eyes closed and he became still. Naruto's eyes widened and tears began to flow from his eyes.

"He landed a blow on me without flinching… and died protecting you…" Haku said as he got himself off the ground. "To protect a precious person, knowing it was a trap, he was still able to jump in… he is a shinobi that deserves respect." he said on one knee. "Is this the first time you saw a friend die?" he asked, now standing. "This is the way of the shinobi." he said as he entered a nearby mirror.

"Shut up…" Naruto said quietly. '_Sasuke… I hated you too… and yet._' Naruto thought as he felt a stinging sensation in his eyes, far more intense than what would normally accompany tears. '_I won't forgive you!_' These were his last thoughts before his mind blanked out.

A few moments later Naruto gently laid the seemingly dead genin on the ground, his eyes hidden by shadows. He stood up and remained stationary, displaying no visible emotion.

Haku's eyes narrowed behind his mask. The boy's demeanor had changed entirely.

"What's wrong? Have you given up?" Haku asked hoping Naruto would give up. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped behind his mask when the boy raised his head and glared, revealing his eyes. His once blue eyes had turned entirely purple, marked with concentric rings centered on his pupil like ripples in a pond. '_Wha-… what? A dojutsu? But… I've never heard of one with this description… and as far as I know, Konoha only has the Sharingan and Byakugan._'

The now purple eyed blond stared at him, his face emotionless and his eyes deathly cold.

* * *

><p>Kakashi and Zabuza continued their own battle. Despite his words that he believed in his students, which were largely true, the copy ninja couldn't deny that he was worried. The two were fresh out of the academy and while they both had a lot of raw talent, the imposter hunter ninja had obviously received training for many years from a ninja of the same caliber as him and he knew little of the boy's bloodline. Even if Sasuke awakened his own bloodline, it would be at its lowest level and at best allow him to follow his opponent's movements.<p>

These thoughts in mind, he decided it was time to put his plan into action. He quickly pulled out a scroll, flipped it into the air, ran one of his thumbs across a wound on his chest and in one fluid motion, unrolled the scroll and ran his bloody thumb across it. "Zabuza… can you hear me? Neither of us has time to waste." Kakashi said as he whipped the scroll around him. "This might not suit your style, but let's end the fun…" The Sharingan wielder threw the scroll into the air, caught it and made hand sign. "And finish this now!"

"Hmph, Sounds interesting… show me what you can do, Kakashi!" Zabuza said, his voice echoing from every direction in the mist.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in the dome of ice mirrors, the now purple eyed boy glared at Haku.<p>

"You've become cold and focused… you have the look of a true shinobi in your eyes." Haku said, he waited but received no response. "Are you going to try to avenge him? I do not wish to harm you anymore." Again, he received no response. He raised his defenses when he saw the boy tense.

'_Here he comes._' Haku thought, his eyes narrowed as the boy charged forward, moving with greater speed than before. Haku leapt from the mirror, moving at speeds invisible to the naked eye and throwing his several needles as he moved forward. He was shocked when the blond vanished from sight, the needles flying harmlessly through the air where he had been a moment before.

Suddenly, his eyes bulged as he found the wind knocked out of him. Naruto, his face still displaying no emotion, punched Haku in the stomach, sending the androgynous teen flying through the air. He landed on in a crouch and promptly jumped out of the way when the blond appeared above him and attempted to grab him by the head.

'_What is this?_' Haku thought in shock. '_He's entirely different from before!_' Haku held placed his arms in a cross formation, senbon appearing between his fingers and began rapidly throwing a hail of the needles at the blond.

Naruto simply held out his left hand, his palm facing the teen. Haku's eyes widened once more when he saw the needles hit some form of invisible barrier, bouncing off of it and clattering on the ground. '_A barrier? What kind of jutsu is this? What is this boy?_'

Haku jumped back, making sure not to take his eyes off the blond as he attempted to reach one of the mirrors. Suddenly, he found himself being pulled on by an irresistible force and propelled through the air towards the blond, barely able to move. '_Impossible!_'

The blond pulled back his right hand, balled it into a fist and punched Haku in the face as he approached, the force of the impact creating a deep crack in the mask. He was sent flying into the air, cracking one of his mirrors upon collision. Before he could fall to the ground, another invisible wave of power slammed into him, sending him flying through the mirror and the air before bouncing off the ground and skidding to a stop, the crack in his mask growing larger by the moment. As he began to stand, the dome of ice mirrors shattered, falling to the ground in countless pieces. He looked up to see the blond, who stood unmoving in the center of the rain of shards.

'_Zabuza…'_ He thought as his mask began to fall apart. The blond suddenly charged forward to end it. '_I cannot defeat this boy… I am…_'

As Naruto reached the teen, he reached out to grab him by the face when he stopped, his clawed hand mere inches from the boy's face. Looking at the blonde's eyes, he saw him blink, emotion returning to his expression in the form of surprise.

"You… you're the guy from…" Naruto said as he snapped out of whatever trance he had entered. Everything that had just happened had been a blur to the boy. The boy noticed how his view of the world had changed. Though he could still recognize the older boy he'd met in the forest, he now saw the world as black with white outlines and he could see the chakra coursing through his body.

"Why did you stop?" Haku asked. "I killed one of your precious friends, why can't you kill me?"

Naruto looked back at Sasuke's unmoving form, the chakra filled mist obscuring the boy, before finishing his motion and punching Haku, though his strength had returned to normal and it merely knocked his back to the ground. Haku coughed up blood as he raised himself up on his arms and began to get up again. "What happened to that power? You can't kill me like that." he said as he wiped away the blood on his mouth. "To show mercy to those who stand against your master is a betrayal to your life's purpose. What use are you to anyone then? Your life has no meaning. "

"Well, speak for yourself." Naruto said.

"I am speaking of myself. I am no longer of any use of Zabuza." Haku said.

"Why would you devote your life to someone like that? Someone who works for scum like Gato has no honor!" Naruto shouted, unable to understand why Haku would give his life for someone like Zabuza.

"There were once others who mattered to me. My father and my mother." Haku began. "I was born in the Land of Water, in a small village heavy with snow. My parents were farmers and very poor, our life was hard but we were happy, but then everything changed. Because of something that happened long before I was even born."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Naruto asked.

"It is in the blood."

"Blood?"

"My father killed my mother and almost killed me." Haku said to Naruto's shock. "After years of suffering civil wars, the people of my land came to fear and hate anyone who carried a Kekkei Genkai."

"Kekkei Genkai?"

"It's special powers or jutsu passed on through certain clans, passed down from generation to generation. The clans were exploited for all sorts of battles because of their powers and were much feared. Once the wars were over, it was feared their presence would only bring more war. So after the wars were over, they hid their abilities, knowing that discovery would mean death. If you were to search the memories of that boy or your clan, you would probably find this to."

"My clan?" Naruto asked.

"Have you noticed a change in your vision? You seem to have a dojutsu, like that boy's." Haku said and Naruto's purple eyes widened, now understanding the change in his sight. Haku then went on to explain how his mother had hidden her bloodline and married a farmer, but because of him they were discovered. His father then killed his mother, before he instinctually defended himself, killing his father and those who were helping him in the process. How he had lost his purpose and that no one wanted his. That Zabuza was the first to acknowledge him.

"I'm no longer useful as a tool to Zabuza. Naruto… I want you… to kill me."

* * *

><p>Kakashi made hand signs and slammed the scroll he was holding into the ground.<p>

"Ninja Art: Summoning! Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu!" Kakashi called out and the kanji in the scroll took on a life of its own and traveled into the ground.

"Hmph, whatever you do, it's useless. You can't find me, but I can find you." Zabuza said with his eyes closed. "Kakashi, you are completely in my hands." Zabuza said before a rumbling sound caught his attention. Suddenly a dog ripped itself out of the ground and bit at his left foot which he lifted out of the way, but another came up and bit into his right foot. Suddenly, all of Kakashi's remaining ninja hounds erupt from the ground and bit into him, completely immobilizing him.

"I realized if I couldn't see you, I'd have to smell you. My ninja hounds can follow a scent anywhere. I let you through my guard. I wanted you to cut me so the scent of my blood could lead them to you. Ah, the mist is clearing. Know what I see? Your death."

"Do you intend to talk me to death?" Zabuza growled.

"In a way, yes. With a single command, my ninja hounds will tear you apart. See where your ambitions got you? After your assassination of the Mizukage and coup failed, you were forced to flee with your remaining followers and became a missing-nin. You needed money to strike back and hide from the hunter-nin, that's why you're working for Gato." Kakashi said, "Alright Zabuza, now, I'll show you my own jutsu." Kakashi made three hand signs, held up his right hand and grabbed his wrist. Lightning and chakra gathered in his palm. "Raikiri!"

'_His chakra's so strong it's visible!_' Zabuza thought in awe of the jutsu.

"I won't let you kill Tazuna. He is the symbol of courage in this land. This bridge is the hope of this land. You're ambitions will sacrifice countless lives. That isn't the way of the shinobi."

"Who cares? These useless people and their petty dreams. I have dreams of my own."

"But to have a dream you need to have a future, and yours is all used up."

* * *

><p>Haku stood before Naruto, waiting for the boy to deliver the final blow.<p>

"Go on; kill me, why do you hesitate." Haku said, his voice devoid of emotion.

Naruto shook his head in frustration, clenching his fists as he tried to comprehend why Haku wanted this. "How can you care about someone who uses you like a tool?"

"Because he gave me a purpose and a reason to live. Naruto, for both of our sakes, do it."

"… there's no other way?"

"No." Haku said with a smile.

Reluctantly, Naruto drew a kunai. He paused for a moment, thinking about what he was about to do. "I feel like… if we had met differently… we could have been friends." Naruto said as he closed his eyes before he drew a kunai and charged forward.

At that moment, Kakashi charged at Zabuza, intent on ending it. Haku sensed his master was in danger.

Naruto had almost reached Haku when he reached up to and caught Naruto's hand. The blond had seen the move but wasn't fast enough to react. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he struggled to move his hand.

"Forgive me, Naruto." Haku said before looking to Zabuza and Kakashi's battle. Naruto caught this and followed his gaze, his eyes widened when he saw through the thinning mist Kakashi and Zabuza, his eyes showing him their chakra too. He saw Kakashi charging towards Zabuza holding a mass of chakra in his hand, intent on impaling him. "I can't die yet." Haku said before disappearing in a body flicker.

Naruto's new eyes allowed him to follow Haku's movements somewhat and see the other's chakra in the mist. He saw Haku appear between Kakashi and Zabuza, intent on taking the blow for his master. What Naruto didn't see was Haku throwing senbon at Kakashi's summon scroll, which lay where he left it. As he ran towards them, something clicked inside Naruto. On instinct, he held out his hand just as Kakashi was about to reach Zabuza and Haku.

"Stop!" Naruto yelled and with that, a wave of pure gravity, not that those there knew what it was, all they could tell was that it was an unstoppable force, was unleashed at the battle. Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku were all knocked off their feet and driven into the bridge hard enough to crack the stone, Kakashi's attack disrupted by the force and his hounds dispelled as they flew through the air as Haku had pierced the summon scroll with his senbon. Naruto's eyes widened, wondering if he had done that and if so, how.

"Uh… what the hell?" Zabuza asked as he began to get up. He looked up and saw Haku before him, picking himself off of the ground. The masked ninja's eyes widened as he realized the boy almost sacrificed himself for him before he shook himself out of it.

"Well, well, look at what we have here." A voice rang out from behind Tazuna and Sakura. The ninja and Tazuna turned to see a diminutive figure in the fading mist. Their eyes widen as the mist clears enough to see that the figure is in fact Gato, and behind him stood a massive hoard of thugs, all wielding weapons. "I pay for a top quality ninja, and he gets laid out like this? You're a real disappointment, Zabuza." Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he glared at his employer.

"What is the meaning of this Gato? And who are these thugs."

"Well, I just had a change of plans. New plan, you die right here. "

"What?" Zabuza asked and Haku's eyes narrowed.

"You're too expensive, so I decided to take you off the payroll, of course, even these guys cost something, so do me a favor and kill some of them. Think you can handle that, demon ninja of the mist? Look at you; you look about as demonic as a wet kitten." The thugs behind him began to laugh with cruel smirks on their faces, unaware they were basically about to commit suicide by ninja.

"Well, Kakashi, it would seem our fight is at an end." Zabuza said.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Kakashi replied in a crouch. He noticed Naruto's eyes but said nothing. At first, he thought they may have been an affect of the Kyuubi's chakra, but he quickly dismissed that thought. He decided it would be best to talk about that later.

"Naruto." Sakura said as she and Tazuna wisely decided to run to the other side of the pair of jonin now that Gato and his thugs were over there. "Where's Sasuke?"

"… Sakura." Naruto began sadly.

"He's fine." Haku said, getting their attention. "In order to remove him from the battle, I placed him in a death like state as I did for Zabuza earlier. He'll wake up in a few minutes."

"What?" Naruto asked as all the leaf ninja and Tazuna's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me? You let me think he was dead."

"I wanted you to kill me after I lost. Had I told you, you wouldn't have done as I asked." Haku replied.

"Hmph… you're still too kind hearted Haku, I've told you countless times you should always finish off your opponents… though I suppose that for once it's paid off…" Zabuza said.

"Enough of this. Take them down." Gato said as Sakura ran to the immobile Sasuke. She held back tears upon seeing Sasuke's condition, remembering Haku's words but still worrying about the Uchiha.

With Gato's command, the thugs charged. What followed was not even worthy of being called a battle. Naruto created five shadow clones, much to the thugs shock. Though that fear was quickly relieved when the clones began to act confused, as if they couldn't get their bearings and soon, they dispelled, leaving a slightly dazed Naruto. The confidence this spectacle gave them didn't last long as, seconds later, an image of a demon appeared behind Zabuza. Naruto, Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku sped forward to meet them. The thug weren't even skilled enough to compete with Naruto, especially with his eyes enhancing his performance. His eyes not only saw in greater detail, they also easily followed their movements, though they couldn't predict or memorize them like the Sharingan. Still, this allowed him to read their movements and the thugs' skill couldn't compare to that of a ninja, even a fairly poor one like Naruto was now. He knocked out his opponents while the others simply killed them. Haku may have had a problem killing some kids, but not thugs like these. Soon, the remaining mercenaries were abandoning their employer and Gato was cornered by the famed demon ninja.

"Wa- wait a minute!" The tyrant said fearfully.

"What was it you said? I look as demonic as a wet kitten?" Zabuza growled as he approached the man. The midget backed way, holding his hands in front of his body in a vain effort to protect himself, his eyes wide with terror. He briefly looked backwards when he felt the back of his foot touch the air and saw it was halfway off the bridge. There was no where left to run.

"Ha- hang on. Let's be reasonable. I underestimated you, you're more than worth your payment, i-in fact, I'll pay you triple! I'll give you anything you want just name it, please don't kill me!" said Gato as he continued to beg for his life.

"No deal, Gato. I should have guessed you'd pull something like this. Look at you, even now, you refuse to die with dignity. Begging for your life like the coward you are." Zabuza sneered as Gato whimpered, cowering in fear from the demon of the mist. "See you in hell!" Zabuza swung his sword and cut the midget's head off.

* * *

><p>'<em>Hn… what… did I die…?<em>' Sasuke asked himself before he heard Sakura calling his name. '_Wait… Sakura? Am I…?_' Sasuke's eyes slowly opened and Sakura looked into his eyes, her own widening as she saw him look at her. "Sakura?"

"…" tears welled up in Sakura's eyes, even after Haku told them he was just in a death like state, when she saw him, she had feared he was truly dead. Sakura wrapped her arms around the boy and cried in joy.

"Sakura… that hurts…" Sasuke said.

"So-sorry." Sakura said as she got up and composed herself.

"What about Naruto… and that masked kid?" Sasuke asked as tried to stand.

"Don't move, you're not fully recovered yet. Anyway, don't worry. He switched sides… so did Zabuza." Sakura said, trying to put him at ease.

Sasuke turned to her with a quizzical expression. "What?" He asked in confusion.

"Apparently, Gato decided they cost too much and hired a bunch of thugs to take us all out." Tazuna said. "Bastard learned the hard way street thugs don't match up to ninja."

Sasuke's brow furrowed as he processed this information. "… Did Naruto… defeat the masked guy?"

"I don't know… I couldn't see through the mist and there's a lot I don't know, but… there's something up with his eyes. I think he has a dojutsu like your clan's, Sasuke."

"What? Naruto has…"

"Hey, guys look!" Sakura called out. "Sasuke's up!" Kakashi, Haku, Zabuza and Naruto turned to them. Sasuke was surprised when he saw Naruto's eyes. For some reason, he found them vaguely familiar, but couldn't place where he had seen or heard of them before.

"Hey guys!" a voice called out. They all turned to see Inari standing there with all the villagers.

"This is…" Tazuna began in shock. Pride welling up inside him at seeing his entire village had been inspired to stand up to Gato.

"Sorry, looks like we were a little late." Inari said.

"Don't worry about it, it was nothing we couldn't handle." Naruto replied.

"What shall we do now, Zabuza?" Haku asked his master.

Zabuza crossed his arms, considering his options. He had known it was a mistake to trust Gato, but they'd needed the money. "… I suppose we need to find a new employer…"

"The two of you are welcome to stay at our place for a few days." Tazuna said.

"After we tried to kill you?" Zabuza raised a non-existent eyebrow.

"Well, you seem pretty down on you luck… and you did take out Gato." Tazuna replied.

"Well… since I'm not really in a condition to go anywhere tonight, I suppose we'll take you up on that. Don't regret this later."

"Naruto." Kakashi said, getting his student's attention. They were too far away from their teammates for them to hear what they were saying. "What exactly happened in that dome?" Naruto explained what had happened during the fight with Haku. "So, you just blacked out and when you came too, Haku had already been beaten and had given up?"

"Yeah, everything between when it looked like Sasuke died and Haku's mask breaking was a blur." Naruto said, his brow furrowed as he tried to recall what had happened.

"I see…" Kakashi said. '_He fought and defeated Haku without being conscious, fighting purely on instinct… was it the Kyuubi? …No… We all would have felt its chakra and its power wouldn't have simply receded like this. The only other explanation would be that he was overcome by the genetic memory of this bloodline he's unlocked. But, I've never heard of such a thing happening before, or at least not in the Uchiha or Hyuuga clans. And where did it come from? Neither sensei nor Kushina had a dojutsu… or a bloodline for that matter, unless you count the Uzumaki's longevity…_'

"Do you know what they are, Kakashi-sensei? What do they look like, anyway?"

"They're purple with four rings centered on your pupil. And no, I don't recognize this dojutsu."

"Seriously? That sounds pretty freaky, though I guess it's cooler than those Sharingan eyes." Naruto grinned. "Though it does make everything look kind of weird. I'm seeing everything as black with white outlines, and I think I can see your chakra. Does the Sharingan make everything look like this, sensei?" he said, looking around before raising his hand and staring at it.

"No, though I can see traces of chakra. Naruto… you should know dojutsu are coveted by the villages… it would be bad if word got out about those eyes."

"What's to worry about? I'm sure we can handle it." Naruto said confidently.

"Yes, well, just in case, deactivate those eyes for now. I'd like to keep this under wraps."

Naruto looked at the copy ninja curiously. "Ok… how do I do that?"

"You should be channeling chakra into your eyes to keep them activated."

"Really? Doesn't feel like I'm using any chakra."

"Try to cut the flow of chakra to you eyes anyway, just humor me." Naruto closed his eyes and tried to do as he was told. He closed his eyes and focused on cutting the flow of chakra to his eyes. When he opened them, he saw his vision was back to normal. He looked at his hands, seeing them in normal color and without chakra once more before speaking.

"Alright, back to normal." The blond said with a grin.

Kakashi deadpanned at him. "Actually, they still look the same."

"What? Really? But everything looks normal again." Naruto asked in shock. Kakashi sighed.

With a sigh, the Sharingan wielder stated. "I get the feeling that's the best we're going to get." He then turned and began walking towards the others, gesturing for the blond to follow. "Come on, we'll have to figure out something later."

* * *

><p>After the celebrations were over, the shinobi all stayed at Tazuna's house. Zabuza was standing outside the building, looking up at the sky deep in thought. This wasn't the first time they had been double crossed by an employer, though they did build a reputation of killing everyone who did so, that didn't stop some arrogant power hungry fools like Gato from thinking they could pull it off. Truth was, his ambitions had long since become impossible, and he knew it.<p>

"Hey, you." He turned to see the now purple eyed blond walking out of the house giving him a hard look, though it was hard to tell with the sunglasses he was wearing. After trying to turn off the dojutsu for a while longer, Kakashi eventually gave up and decided that either Naruto had too much chakra and not enough control, or they were like the Byakugan and their presence would be obvious even when inactive. After this, Kakashi got him the sunglasses to hide his new eyes.

"Huh? What do you want kid?"

"Do you care about Haku at all?" Naruto asked angrily.

"Hmph, is that what's been bothering you all day? Kid, you're naïve, that's how the ninja world works. Haku's nothing but a tool to me."

"You say that even after he was ready to give his life for you?" Naruto almost yelled. "After he lost, he asked me to kill him… all because he thought his loss meant he was of no further use to you… he respects and cares about you that much and you don't care at all?"

"…"

"… I can't stand the thought that someone as kind and loyal as Haku… would give his life for someone who wouldn't care about it…"

"… Kid… stop talking." Naruto glared until he noticed the look in his eyes. "… We shinobi are still human. It's not easy to become an emotionless tool. It may be impossible." The masked nin said. "Go back inside, I'm done talking."

* * *

><p>The next morning, it was the day they would set out. They were all eating breakfast at a table, except for Zabuza, who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Sasuke seemed to occasionally glare at Naruto, but hadn't said anything. The Uchiha was intrigued by Naruto's dojutsu, but was also slightly upset about the outcome of the fight. He could still hardly believe that Naruto, the class clown, had managed to defeat an opponent that he couldn't, even if it was due to the blond's bloodline. Naruto noticed Sasuke's glare and seemed annoyed but also didn't comment. Sakura was alternating between acting normal and swooning over Sasuke as usual, while Zabuza and Haku stayed silent.<p>

"Hey, Zabuza?" Naruto spoke up.

"What is it?" The missing ninja asked, glancing at the blond.

"Why'd you betray your village anyway? Were you really just that greedy, or was it something else?"

"… If you must know, I was trying to save my country." Zabuza said with a glare. He decided to indulge the brat due to the epiphany he helped him to the other night, but he really didn't like talking about this subject.

"You tried to save your village by taking it over… that seems like twisted logic, Zabuza." Kakashi replied, not believing it.

"Have you ever heard of the bloodline purges, Kakashi?" This caused his eye to widen in realization while Sasuke's and Sakura's widened in shock. Naruto had heard of this already from Haku.

"Wait, bloodline purges? What's he talking about Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi paused a moment before answering. "… Kiri has a long history of civil wars… because of the power they possess, those who hold Kekkei Genkai like Haku's ice techniques, the Sharingan or Naruto's dojutsu were used as living weapons… to a far greater degree than other ninja, to destroy their enemies and inspire fear. The previous Mizukage, and many of the people of the Land of Water, came to see them as demons that brought war and suffering to them. After the wars were over, in an effort to prevent further tragedies, they slaughtered all those known to hold bloodlines." Kakashi explained and all eyes, aside of course from those who already knew of this, widened in shock.

"… My father… murdered my mother… and tried to kill me because he discovered we held a Kekkei Genkai." Haku said, shocking them further, especially Sasuke. He had always been told being an Uchiha, having the Sharingan in his blood, made him special… to hear now that it would have demonized him in another country was an almost terrifying thought to the young Uchiha.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Kakashi said.

"It is fine; you had nothing to do with it."

"That's awful… does that kind of thing happen often in the ninja world?" Tsunami asked.

"No… but assassinations and kidnappings of those who hold Kekkei Genkai are common. They're powerful assets and dangerous enemies." Kakashi said. "I trust you'll keep quiet about Naruto's dojutsu?" The civilians nodded.

"Hm… I wanted to stop the Fourth Mizukage's madness… anyway, that doesn't matter now. There was a rebellion and they won. There's a new Mizukage and I hear whoever it is even has a Kekkei Genkai themselves." Zabuza said. "Of course, I can't go back now. We were working with Gato to get the money to survive, not to try to take over the village again."

"Why don't you join another village?" Kakashi asked.

"What village would take in someone who tried to kill their Kage?"

"I could put in a good word for you with the old man." Naruto said.

"Old man?" Haku asked.

"He has a kind of bond with the Hokage… kind of like a grandson to him from what I've seen…" Kakashi said.

"… Are you kidding me? This kid?" Zabuza asked skeptically.

"I'm serious… he's also wise and tries to avoid bloodshed whenever possible. Also, Konoha's feelings on Kekkei Genkai are pretty much opposite Kiri's…" Kakashi replied.

"… Haku… what do you think?" Zabuza said

"… I'd like to believe it… but…"

"… Fine… at this point, we don't really have much to lose." Zabuza finally said.

Kakashi sighed. "… I know I'm going to hear about this later…"

* * *

><p><strong>There's chapter one, hope you liked it.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2. Please read and review.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Tazuna and his family, along with a single worker stood across from the party of ninja on the bridge linking the country to the mainland. The bridge which had been the only hope of their nation had, after so long, finally been completed and it was time for the leaf shinobi and the two missing nin to say their goodbyes to the recovering nation.<p>

"I'd like to apologize again for aiding Gato." Haku said, bowing his head slightly.

"No problem, that's all water under the bridge. Thanks to all of you, in the end we completed the bridge and our land is free from that tyrant's clutches. But, it's sad to see you guys go." Tazuna said, resting his hand on Inari's head. "Thanks for everything."

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to visit." Naruto grinned.

"You… better…" Inari said, shaking with the effort of holding back his tears.

Naruto's smile fell as he too struggled to hold back tears before his expression returned to a grin, though he continued shaking. "You sad Inari? It's ok to cry, you know?"

"I'm not going to cry!" Inari yelled. "But you can cry if you want to."

"Fine… later." Naruto replied, turning his back on Inari. Looking back at Naruto, one could see that, like Inari, he now had tears streaming from his eyes.

Sakura looked at Naruto with a slightly annoyed expression. '_Geez… they're like twins!_'

'_This kid's got a long way to go before he becomes a true shinobi…_' Zabuza thought.

"That boy… he changed Inari's heart. And Inari changed the people's hearts. That boy brought courage back to this nation." the bridge builder said as he watched the ninja's retreating figures.

"Oh, yeah. We need to name this bridge, don't we?" the worker asked.

"Well, I have a perfect name for it."

"Oh? What is it?" Tsunami asked her father.

"How about… the Great Naruto Bridge?" Tazuna replied. The smiles from the others told him they agreed.

* * *

><p>That night, Team 7, Zabuza and Haku rested at a small camp, sitting around a campfire.<p>

"What's Konoha like?" Haku asked, glancing around the camp fire. "You said they see Kekkei Genkai as valuable?"

"That's right, the philosophy is that every true Konoha shinobi must love, believe, cherish and fight for the village's sake, as many previous generations had done before them. Bloodlines are seen as a valuable tool for the shinobi possessing them that allow them to better protect the village, and as such are seen in a more positive light than in Kiri, where it's believed they exist solely to wage wars." Kakashi explained.

"I see… I must admit, I'm looking forward to seeing this." Haku said.

"I still find it hard to believe that your Hokage will give us a chance just like that." Zabuza spoke.

"Don't worry about it. You'll see, the old man's sure to help you guys." Naruto assured them confidently.

"Naruto." Sasuke's voice was heard the first time since they left Wave. It surprised team 7 even more, since Sasuke rarely spoke to the blonde, out of all people

"Huh, what do you want, Sasuke?" Naruto turned to his teammate. Sasuke seemed to be more condescending to him than usual. Naruto was unaware of the reason behind it - Sasuke believed Naruto was becoming stronger than him, part of him found it unacceptable while the other side refused to acknowledge the possibility.

"How did you beat Haku?" Sasuke asked. Naruto stared into the campfire, trying once again to recall the events of the battle in vain.

After a moment, the blonde replied. "… I don't know."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and Sakura's raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "What do you mean? How can you not remember winning the fight?"

"Just that… after it looked like Sasuke died, I blacked out. I guess that was the same time my bloodline activated… When I came to, I was about to kill Haku. Everything between that time was a blur."

"I believe he instinctually called upon the genetic memory of his dojutsu. It overwhelmed him and he fought purely on that instinct." Kakashi explained his theory.

"Huh… never heard of something like that happening with a dojutsu before." Zabuza commented as he turned to the copy ninja.

"Neither have I." Kakashi agreed. "But it's the only explanation I can think of."

"What did it do to him?" Sasuke asked the older boy, wanting to learn more about Naruto's power.

Haku's eyes narrowed, not wanting to think back to his near death. "… A few moments after I put you into a false death, he stood up, already overwhelmed by his bloodline. He was suddenly able to keep up with me, most likely by channeling chakra into his legs, though I don't think that alone could account for the difference in speed. I think his eyes allowed him to follow my every move and he had access to jutsu I'd never seen before."

"What jutsu?" Sasuke inquired.

"I saw two, possibly three. The first he used to create a barrier of some sort. My needles were useless. The second allowed him to pull me in. I tried to reach one of my mirrors when I suddenly found myself pulled through the air towards him. I was powerless to defend myself at that time. The third, though I believe it may have been a variation of the barrier, sent out a wave of force strong enough to shatter one of my mirrors. I believe it was the same technique you used to save us." Haku explained, turning to Naruto at the last part. Sasuke's hands clenched. This dojutsu of Naruto's may even be as strong as the Mangekyo!

"Do you know how you did that, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked down at his hand, remembering the power he felt and shook his head. "No…"

"Well, I must admit, I'm curious about this bloodline of yours." Kakashi mused. "Perhaps Lord Hokage will know more about it."

* * *

><p>At their position guarding the gate of Konoha, Kotetsu sighed as he looked out to the empty road. It was another lazy day for the two chunin who usually guarded the gates. Though Izumo was perfectly content with this, Kotetsu was a little irritated at the monotony of guarding a gate day in and day out and was considering suggesting they take a mission for a change.<p>

"Looks like another boring day on guard duty." Kotetsu said.

"You shouldn't complain about it. The pay's good and there's no real risk. Besides, would you rather we be under attack or something?" Izumo replied.

"I guess you're right. Still, I wish something interesting would happen for a change."

Minutes later, Team seven along with Zabuza and Haku approached Konoha. As the group was walking towards the gate, the guards at first moved to greet them, but stopped when they saw Zabuza and instead stared in stunned silence of the infamous demon ninja of the Mist.

"Hey, guys, what's up with you?" Naruto looked at them with raised brows. These were two people he knew fairly that didn't see him as a demon.

"You guys know who that is behind you, right?" Kotetsu asked, slightly on guard.

"Yeah, he wants to join the village." Naruto replied.

Both looked down at the blonde in shock before Izumo voiced their thoughts. "Are you serious?"

"Hmph, nice to see my reputation precedes me, but do you think I could fool someone like Kakashi that easily?" Zabuza said.

"Believe it or not, he's being sincere. If the Hokage's willing, he and his protégé here will be joining our village." Kakashi said. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we really should give our mission report. As you can see, we have a lot to talk about." '_And I'm going to be scolded for not coming back or asking for reinforcements when the mission was upgraded to an A-rank…and for bringing Zabuza here, knowing how Kiri will take it… oh, and probably for teaching them so little too… joy._'

With that, the group headed off towards the Hokage tower. The guards were so stunned they didn't even question Naruto's sunglasses.

"Well, you got what you asked for." Izumo said, still a little shocked.

Kotetsu blinked before looking to the sky. "Yeah… think it'll work if I ask for a bonus?"

Izumo shook his head. "Not a chance."

Kotetsu sighed before propping his arm on the table and resting his head on his hand. "That's what I thought."

* * *

><p>Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, known as the Professor and the God of Shinobi, the only one to hold that title since the Sage of the Six Paths, for his prowess and mastery of the ninja arts, sat at his desk facing a never ending battle against the most persistent enemy of all Kage… paperwork. While it wasn't as bad as most believed, it still took up a lot of their time.<p>

"Uh… Lord Hokage?" his assistant, a kunoichi in her early twenties with black hair stepped into the room, seeming slightly nervous.

Hiruzen raised a brow as he noticed how tense she was. "Yes… what seems to be the matter?"

"Team 7 has returned." She replied. His expression didn't change since that didn't answer his question - that wouldn't be enough to make her nervous. "And… Zabuza Momochi's with them… it seems he wishes to join Konoha." the old man's eyes widened at this. How could they have encountered someone like that on a C-rank mission. And why would Kakashi believe he would be a loyal Konoha ninja?

"I see… send them in." he ordered as he sat back in his chair, hands clasped on his desk. She gave the group the okay to enter and left the room after they did.

'_That's the God of Shinobi? He looks like he should be in a retirement home._' Zabuza thought. '_Then again, that says nothing about his skill. Haku doesn't exactly look menacing either…_'

"Hey, old man." Naruto said, grinning as he saw his grandfather figure.

"Welcome back, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and you as well, Kakashi." the old man said with a smile which fell into a more serious expression as his gaze turned to the missing nin. "I must admit, I was a bit surprised to hear you wish to join our village."

"Yeah, make that two of us. Part of me can't believe I'm actually here." Zabuza replied.

"I'd imagine so, Kiri and Konoha are very different, as you may find out soon enough, depending on the outcome of this meeting. Kakashi…I have to ask how you came across the demon of the mist and this boy, who I assume is with him?"

"Yes, well… it seems Tazuna lied to us about the scope of the mission… it was more like an A-rank." Kakashi explained. Hiruzen's eyes hardened when he heard that.

There was a tense pause before the professor spoke up, "I'm sorry, I must have misheard you… I thought you said this mission was upgraded to an A-rank."

"Heh heh… I'm afraid you heard right." Kakashi gave a nervous eye-smile.

"I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate." the Hokage said. A while later, Hiruzen sighed at having heard the full scope of the mission, and why Kakashi decided to give Zabuza a chance. He should have known something like this would happen, things with Naruto always seemed to become complicated. "… How did all of this come from a simple C-rank mission…?" Hiruzen sighed again. "Although I have to disagree with your course of action, what's done is done now."

"Huh?" Naruto started, surprised. He had thought that the old man would be proud of them. "But they couldn't afford anything else. You can't be saying we should have just left them to deal with it."

"Of course not. Had we known about the state of their country, we could have worked out some way for them to compensate us in the future. Perhaps an I.O.U. to be paid when the country was back on it's feet or a trade agreement, rather than risking the lives of three newly graduated genin. At the very least, we could have sent back up."

"Wait, these three are fresh out of the academy?" Zabuza gestured toward the genin, obviously surprised. "Kakashi, what did you teach them?" he'd been impressed that Sasuke was able to hold his own against Haku, even forcing him to use his trump card, and that Naruto had actually managed to pull one over on him. To hear they were fresh out of the academy was startling.

'_Here we go…_' "Well… tree climbing… and some teamwork exercises…"

"… Is that all?" Zabuza asked incredulously and Kakashi eye smiled and chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Both Zabuza and the Third stared at the man.

"Kakashi… that's all you taught them and you brought them on a mission of A-rank difficulty?" the Third asked.

"Well… actually, I taught them tree climbing in Wave…"

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Zabuza shook his head and face palmed while Hiruzen glared at the silver haired jonin.

"Kakashi… we will have to talk about your teaching methods…" the Hokage said before turning to the former mist ninja. "In the mean time, tell me why I should consider your request, considering your previous actions."

"Apparently, Zabuza staged his coup in an attempt to halt the Fourth Mizukage's bloodline purge." Kakashi said and Hiruzen raised a brow.

"Ah, yes… it's true, those sordid affairs did occur around the time of your betrayal…" Hiruzen mused, stroking his beard in thought. "I take it the purges were as bad as our information would suggest?"

Zabuza scoffed. "Probably worse. Yagura managed to convince everyone that bloodline holders may as well have been true demons in human form. If a bloodline holder was found, they would be ruthlessly slaughtered, whether they were ninja or untrained civilian carriers. You could kill an infant if he bore a bloodline and get fifteen minutes of fame. I've seen that happen, firsthand." The three genin looked in horror at that, while Hiruzen and Kakashi's eyes narrowed and Haku cringed, going back to the day his mother was murdered. "Not only was it an atrocity, it was tearing our country apart. Those who could see the truth began to rebel against the Fourth Mizukage's regime. I just happened to be at the forefront."

Haku stepped forward. "As you have been told, I bear the Ice element Kekkei Genkai and am quite possibly the last of the Yuki clan. My mother hid herself as a civilian and married my father, a simple farmer. We were happy, until I discovered my bloodline and my father discovered us… he led the people of my village to murder me and my mother… I watched him kill her and then try to kill me… I survived only because my bloodline activated subconsciously and killed everyone left in the house. We lived on the outskirts of the village. I escaped before the rest of the villagers knew what happened and wandered the country until Zabuza found me and took me in."

"Do you have any idea what led the Mizukage to act in such a manner? My encounters with Yagura beforehand led me to believe he was a kind and just man." Hiruzen said.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he thought back to those days. "That was the odd thing. No one does. The change was gradual, but there was something odd. He definitely wasn't the man we once called our Mizukage when the purges began. Some thought he was being controlled, maybe by some powerful genjutsu, but as far as I know there was never any proof."

Hiruzen was silent for a few moments, closing his eyes as he considered what he'd heard before opening them and looking at Zabuza. "… What you've told me matched what I've heard. In light of this information, we will have to discuss those events further at a later date, but I will give you a chance. Though Zabuza will have a six month probationary period and will be unable to take missions outside the village for the span of one year, you will be allowed to join the village." Zabuza nodded and Hiruzen turned to Haku. "As for you, since you were not an official ninja, but were loyal to one, your probationary period will be half your mentor's and, if you wish, you will be allowed to restart the Yuki clan here."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." Haku bowed.

"We will have to gauge your skills later to see exactly what rank you will receive." Hiruzen said to the androgynous teen who nodded. "Were there any other note worthy events over the course of this mission?"

"Yes, Sasuke activated the Sharingan during the mission… but Naruto also unlocked a dojutsu I can't identify." Kakashi said and the Third blinked.

"I see… that's a surprise… I assume that's why you're wearing those sunglasses?" the Hokage responded and Naruto nodded. "Well… let's see it." Naruto removed his sunglasses and opened his eyes, revealing the purple, ringed doujutsu to the Hokage. Hiruzen gasped, his eyes wide as he stood up in disbelief at the sight before him. "That's… I don't believe it…"

"What is it? You know what they are?" Sakura asked.

"Yes… the Rinnegan." the Hokage replied surprising everyone present, aside Naruto who had never heard of that.

"The same eyes as the sage… are you sure, old man?" Zabuza asked.

"I'm sure." Hiruzen nodded as he sat behind his desk again.

Naruto looked slightly confused. "Wait, what's so special about my eyes?" he asked, not understanding why they were such a big deal. "And who's this sage?"

"The Sage of the Six Paths. He was the first, and supposedly, most powerful Shinobi who ever lived. He created the ninja arts and was a bearer of the same dojutsu you have." Kakashi answered. "But though I assumed the eyes were real, I believe the man was just a myth."

"I assure you, he was real, but he lived over two thousand years ago… there is little known of him now." the Third said. "Naruto… the Rinnegan is the greatest of the three great dojutsu. Certainly one of the most powerful bloodlines in existence."

A grin grew across Naruto's face and he pumped his fist. "Really! I knew I was awesome, I-"

"Naruto!" Hiruzen interrupted. "This is no laughing matter. If word of this reaches the other villages or… certain individuals, they will stop at nothing to kill or capture you." That stopped Naruto in his tracks, freezing in place with wide eyes. "The fact that you posses those eyes is an S-rank secret. Understood?" All the ninja present nodded.

"Lord Hokage, Naruto can't change his eyes back." Sakura said. "Is there some reason why he can't or…"

"Unfortunately, from what I know the Rinnegan is permanently active. Once awakened, there is no way to return the user's eyes to normal." Hiruzen explained.

"What? You mean my eyes are going to look like this forever?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"I'm afraid so." the old man replied.

"Lord Hokage, how did you recognize the Rinnegan?" Kakashi asked.

"A student of mine, Jiraiya, trained a Rinnegan user in Ame years ago. He told me about it. That aside, I'm not called the Professor for nothing. I know of many legends and though there are various different accounts on its abilities, its description is constant in all the legends." the Third replied and Naruto looked excited.

"Wait, if these bloodlines travel through families, then we must be related! Can you contact him for me or…" Naruto said, excited about the possibility of meeting family for the first time.

"I'm sorry Naruto… I was told he died many years ago, before I even knew of him." Hiruzen said sadly. Fearful that certain elements in Konoha would find out, such as Danzo, Jiraiya had kept knowledge of his Rinnegan bearing student to himself until he heard of his death. The blonde's mood immediately dropped.

"Oh…" was all he could say. It tore at the old man's heartstrings to see his surrogate grandson's hopes rise so, only to be dashed by reality.

"I wasn't told much about the Rinnegan's abilities. I'll ask Jiraiya to return to the village to aid you. According to my information, he was planning on returning around the time of the Chunin Exams anyway."

"Chunin Exams?" Sakura parroted.

"Exactly what it sounds like, a series of tests meant to see if your worthy of being promoted to chunin. I intend to nominate you for them." Kakashi explained.

Hiruzen glared at the former ANBU captain. "Not if that's all you've taught them so far. From the fact that they survived this mission, I'm sure they've improved on their own since they graduated, but that alone isn't enough to prepare them." Kakashi cringed slightly at that.

"Well… at least I have two months to make up for that…" Kakashi said, ignoring Naruto and Sasuke's scowls for almost costing them the chance to progress. Sakura was significantly less upset.

"So, who's this Jiraiya anyway?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi turned to the young Jinchuriki. "Lord Jiraiya, along with Lady Tsunade and Orochimaru, are known as the three legendary Sannin. They're Lord Hokage's former students."

Zabuza shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you don't even know of renowned Shinobi of your own village. Those are three of the strongest ninja alive, but years ago, Orochimaru betrayed your village."

The Third Hokage sat back in his chair as he thought of his scattered students. "Yes… he was my star pupil… but he was always ambitious. His lust for power and immortality eventually consumed him and he committed unspeakable crimes against the village. It's common knowledge that Jiraiya runs our spy network and… as for Tsunade…" he said, sighing at the end. "Though she is not a missing nin and is still loosely affiliated with us, she left the village and currently has no intentions of returning for reasons that are her own." he then looked up. "If there's nothing else, I must have… words… with Kakashi. Zabuza, might I make a request? I want you to aid Kakashi with teaching these three while you're on probation, at least until the exams begin." Hiruzen then turned to Kakashi. "It's not that I've lost faith in your teaching abilities, Kakashi, but with Sasuke possessing the Sharingan, your team will be a target to other villages and people like my wayward student. Even more so if and when knowledge of the Rinnegan gets out and you seem to be a good teacher, considering the skill young Haku has. Rest assured you will be compensated."

"I understand, Lord Hokage." Kakashi replied.

"Hn… not like I'll have anything better to do and I do owe them I guess." Zabuza said. Naruto looked excited to learn from another powerful ninja, Sasuke smirked slightly, sure this would help him fulfill his goal and Sakura paled at the thought of being trained by the demon ninja of the mist.

"Wait a minute… old man… what do you know about my family?" Naruto asked. He had asked the old man before, but he had always told him he couldn't tell him. "You always said you couldn't tell me… why? Was it because of my bloodline?"

"Your bloodline had nothing to do with it. Suffice it to say no one on either side of your family ever exhibited this dojutsu before. You were never told because your father made many enemies… if word got out you were his son, the same individuals would stop at nothing to kill you for revenge." He said before considering the new developments, specifically Naruto's dojutsu. "Though with your other secrets, that wouldn't change much to be honest… Very well. Naruto, I was planning to wait until you were sixteen, but if you pass the upcoming Chunin Exams, I'll tell you everything about them, is that alright?"

"… Yeah… I guess that just gives me more reason to pass. You'll see, in two months, I'll be the awesome ninja I'm meant to be, and then you'll tell me everything."

Hiruzen smiled. "Good, now, you are all dismissed-" his smile was replaced into a glare worthy of his title as his eyes turned to the copy ninja. "-except for you Kakashi." He then looked to the ex-mist ninja. "Zabuza, Haku, my ANBU will find you and take you to an assigned apartment. Here are your new forehead protectors." Hiruzen said as he handed the pair leaf village forehead protectors. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. Since your team brought them here, I'll ask that you show them around the village." The three nodded, Sasuke obviously unhappy about the order, and left. Kakashi paled slightly as he was left in the room with the second God of Shinobi, who was glaring daggers at him.

* * *

><p>In the absence of their sensei, team seven along with Zabuza and his apprentice stepped out of the administration building, the ex missing-nin now wearing Konoha forehead protectors. Having no where to go, Zabuza swept his eyes over the village, unlike when he had been on his way to the Hokage's office, where he had noted defenses and the ANBU following them, he truly took in the sight of the village.<p>

"Well, this place is a hell of a lot more peaceful than Kiri, that's for sure." Zabuza noted.

Sakura turned to the man, who still intimidated her a little. "What do you mean?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Even before the Fourth Mizukage went bat-shit on Bloodline holders, there was always a tenseness, a sense of threat that Konoha doesn't have."

"So, let's get started. There's a lot to show you." Naruto said.

With that, the three genin showed the two new citizens of Konoha around their new home. Over the course of their tour, Zabuza and Haku, of course, noticed the looks of shock they were getting, but were more surprised at the looks that were directed towards Naruto. Haku was reminded of his time in Kiri, remembering the glares directed at him by those who knew he held a bloodline. Zabuza on the other hand, remembered similar looks directed towards the Fourth Mizukage. As they were walking down a particular street, Zabuza glanced at the blonde. There weren't many other reasons why a child would be treated this way in his own village, especially one as peaceful as Konoha. Just about every ninja knew of the Kyuubi's attack and the boy in front of him seemed to be the right age. It added more substance to his theory when his hearing, honed by his mastery of the art of silent killing, overheard whispers of 'fox-boy' and other similar names from the villagers. He had to admit, he was intrigued if he was right. The power of a Jinchuriki combined with the Rinnegan? There would be no limits to the boy's potential if his suspicions were correct.

Sakura and Sasuke also noticed the glares the blonde received. They rarely saw him outside the academy or team meetings, so this was the first time they'd noticed how the people of the village looked at him. Sasuke was slightly intrigued but for the most part didn't care. Sakura found herself curious as well about why he was being glared at, though she soon dismissed it as the result of one too many pranks.

"Hey, kid. Are there any good places to eat around here?" Zabuza asked as their tour neared its end.

Naruto grinned, the thought of his favorite food was almost always enough to lift his mood. "I know a great place. Hey, how about we all go there to celebrate."

Sakura smiled and turned to Sasuke but before she could say anything, Sasuke scoffed and turned away. "Not interested." the Uchiha said as he started towards his compound, his hands in his pockets and aloof expression on his face. He wanted nothing more than to return to his home. The revelation that the Sharingan wasn't the most powerful dojutsu in the village anymore (he was certain his clan's dojutsu was superior to the Hyuuga's Byakugan, and vice versa), let alone that the more powerful dojutsu belonged to the dead last of all people, not to mention the events in Wave, had increased his desire for power tenfold. He was determined not to let Naruto surpass him, Rinnegan or not.

"Come on, Sasuke, It's my treat." Naruto called out.

Sakura turned to the blonde, obviously surprised. "You actually want him to come with us?"

Naruto looked to the ground and narrowed his eyes. It was obvious he didn't particularly want Sasuke to come along. "Well, he did take about a hundred needles for me. I think I kind of owe him." Naruto replied. Haku looked away nervously at that.

Sasuke didn't seem to care. "Hn, first of all, why should I waste my time. Secondly, if you owed me, I wouldn't squander a favor on something frivolous like this anyway."

Naruto glared at Sasuke's retreating figure. "Fine then, be that way." he then turned to Sakura hopefully. "Sakura, want to come?"

"Well…" Sakura began.

"Hang on a moment." A familiar voice called out. The three genin, Haku and Zabuza turned in the direction of the voice to see Kakashi appear in a Body Flicker.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said.

Zabuza smirked behind the bandages the masked his face. "Heh, old man done chewing you out, Kakashi?" the other masked ninja didn't respond to that.

Kakashi nonchalantly turned to his fellow masked ninja. "Huh, you say something Zabuza?" Far away, Gai felt the urge to curse his eternal rivals' hip attitude and challenge him once again. Zabuza simply scoffed.

Sasuke turned away. "Unless you're going to suggest we start training, I'm not interested."

Kakashi turned to the last Uchiha in Konoha. "Hold on, I've got something I need to say to all of you." Sasuke, stood still for a moment before turning around and facing him. Naruto and Sakura were already giving him their attention. "Alright, listen up. I know I haven't been… serious about teaching you until now. By all accounts, I should have taught you the tree climbing exercise long before our trip to Wave. Lord Hokage made it clear he won't tolerate that kind of negligence on my part anymore and… I'm sorry for neglecting you the way I have." the copy ninja said, pausing for a moment and letting his words sink in. "Starting tomorrow, your training will begin in earnest. There won't be much time to devote to team building exercises, but I want you three to work as a more cohesive unit. I think spending more time together, or any time together at all, outside our training would be a good start." He then turned to Sasuke, the look in his eye leaving no room for arguments. "So, we will be getting something to eat together, and no Sasuke, this is not negotiable." Sasuke simply scoffed, but returned to the group. "Good, now…" Kakashi then turned to the Rinnegan bearer, giving him his eye-smile. "Since Naruto was so kind as to offer, our meal will be on him, so the least we can do is let him decide where we eat."

Naruto grumbled and Sakura smiled and playfully stuck her tongue out at him. Zabuza smirked under his mask and even Sasuke grinned slightly at the blonde's misfortune.

* * *

><p>Zabuza raised an eyebrow. "A ramen bar?" Naruto had led the group to his favorite eatery, the Ichiraku Ramen Bar.<p>

Kakashi sighed. "I should have known… he practically lives off of this stuff…"

Naruto ran into his favorite eatery with his toothy grin. "Hey, old man. How've things been?"

"Naruto. Good to see you." Teuchi smiled at his favorite customer.

His daughter, the ramen waitress Ayame joined him, smiling at the return of the blond, who she considered family. "Hey, Naruto. Where've you been? Did you just get back from a mission?"

"Yep. Me and my team are showing these guys around the village." Naruto said, gesturing towards the others who were entering the bar behind him.

Teuchi looked surprised to see Zabuza. He may not have known who he was, but it was obvious the man was a powerful ninja. "That so? Well, what do you think of our village so far?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Nice place. Though it doesn't have the feel of a ninja village, if you ask me. It's too relaxed around here."

Kakashi turned to his fellow jonin as he entered the bar. "Well, that's some of the appeal of our village."

Ayame, curiosity overcoming her, had to ask. "So, is there any particular reason why you're the ones showing them around?"

Naruto was first to answer the question and soon he, along with Sakura and occasional input from Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku began to explain the details of their mission, leaving out some sensitive topics such as Naruto's eyes of course, as the stand owners took their orders and brought their food. By the time they were finished with the explanation, three of the teens were halfway through their first bowls, Zabuza and Kakashi had somehow finished theirs and replaced their masks quickly enough so that no one could peek and Naruto was on his fourth.

"Wow, you're just starting out and you get a mission like that?" Ayame asked in shock. It was obvious to anyone, ninja or not that the team had gotten in over their heads.

"Yep, amazing huh? Our first real mission and we save an entire country. I always said I'd be an awesome ninja." Naruto grinned.

"Well, congratulations. To celebrate, and to welcome our new citizens, all of your first bowls on the house." Teuchi announced.

Haku looked up, slightly surprised by Teuchi's generosity. "Really? That's very generous of you. Are you sure that's alright?"

Teuchi waved off his concerns. "Don't worry about it. Like I said, it's my way of welcoming you to the village. Besides, Naruto will more than make up for it."

Zabuza glanced at the blonde, who had just started his fifth bowl with no less enthusiasm than his first. "Yeah, and then some. You weren't kidding about him living off of this stuff, I see."

"Hey, Kakashi." Sasuke spoke up for the first time since they got there. "What're the Chunin Exams like?"

"Well…" Kakashi began, his students looking at him anxiously. "I can't say."

"What? Oh, come on, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto complained.

Kakashi chuckled and eye-smiled at the blonde. "It wouldn't be very fair if I told you, now would it?"

Naruto turned to Haku. "I take it you never took one of the exams did you?" the older teen replied that he hadn't and the blonde turned to the demon of the Mist. "Well, what about you then, Zabuza? Any info on what we'll be up against?"

"Even if I wanted to tell you, kid, I wouldn't know. The exams are always different and vary depending on which village it's held in." Zabuza replied.

"I guess it's to be expected they're not the same every time." noted Sakura, slightly disappointed. Though she wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it, if her teammates, especially Sasuke, wanted to go through with it, so would she. "Wait, it's not always in our village?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Most allied or neutral villages send genin to participate in the exams. They should arrive just before they begin. The exams are held in one of the participating villages. You're in luck, it's our villages turn this time around."

"Why are we taking our exams with foreign ninja?" Sakura asked.

"That'll be explained during the exam." Kakashi replied.

"How are exams in the same villages different?" inquired Sasuke.

"Well, the proctor, a jonin or special jonin from the hosting village, decides on the tests. Of course, different proctors means entirely different tests and they make sure to never give repeat performances." Kakashi replied. Sasuke nodded, satisfied by the information. "I can tell you this much. Everyone sent to participate in the exam will be skilled ninja in their own right. Many elites among genin from all over the Elemental Nations will be participating. It won't be easy for you." Sakura looked a little nervous while Naruto looked excited, as did Sasuke, though one could only barely tell. "Fortunately, I intend to make sure you three are ready when the time comes."

* * *

><p>That night, Sasuke walked into the secret area in the Naka Shrine, his clan's secret meeting place.<p>

He had to admit, he was a little anxious to do this, to see the secrets of his deceased clan. Itachi had instructed him to discover those secrets on that terrible night all those years ago, but he'd been unable to. It hadn't taken him long to figure out the Sharingan was necessary to decipher what was written there. For years, the information contained on it eluded him, but now, now he finally had what he needed.

As he stepped into the secret meeting place in the Naka shrine, he briefly glanced at the tapestries on the walls of the room before his eyes turned to the tablet that held all the secrets of his clan.

He grinned as he activated his Sharingan and began to read, soaking up the knowledge left behind by his nearly extinct clan. Minutes later, his expression fell into a scowl. Though many of the previously indecipherable secrets of his clan were now clear as day to him, a lot was still impossible to read.

Apparently, the basic Sharingan could only translate so much. He'd need the Mangekyo to read more, though what he had discovered had been interesting, to say the least. The Sharingan possessed a power he'd never suspected.

The power to control the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. It also revealed some facts about the beast. Most notably, that it couldn't truly be killed. So then, how did the Fourth Hokage defeat it?

Not that it really mattered to him. That power would be of no use against Itachi, who had a more powerful Sharingan, anyway. Still, it made him curious how his clan was linked to the fox.

* * *

><p>Naruto stood in his apartment bathroom, looking at his reflection, the purple ringed eyes he'd have to live with for the rest of his life staring back at him. Channeling chakra them, his vision once more became black and white as his eyes activated. He raised his hand and looked at his arm, faintly seeing the chakra coursing though his arm and seeing it clearly around the extremity like blue fire.<p>

He deactivated his eyes, letting color return to his vision, and thought about everything he had learned over the course of the day. He thought about the offer made by the old man he considered a grandfather, pass and become a chunin and learn about his family. As he thought about that, his mind flashed back to the academy, his constant losses and his and Sasuke's battle with Haku and he grimaced. Alone, he allowed his mask of confidence fall as he recalled his failures and how completely outclassed he was by Haku.

He couldn't afford to risk screwing this up. One of the things he had always wanted to know, the truth about the family he never had, was at stake. Starting tomorrow, he would take being a ninja seriously. If he let this chance pass him by, he'd never forgive himself.

* * *

><p>Zabuza and Haku stepped into the apartment they had been assigned after finishing the first of several interviews they would have with the Hokage, which would end in full mental and physical evaluations. They would be allowed to keep some things to themselves, but they would have to reveal several secrets of their homeland and basically everything about their time wandering the nations, but this was to be expected.<p>

The two ex missing ninja inspected the home with a critical eye as the ANBU who had shown them to it departed. It was a decent two bedroom apartment.

"Well, it's better than sleeping in the woods, that's for sure." Zabuza noted and Haku nodded. "So, this place everything you hoped it'd be?"

"Yes. From what I've seen, the village is much like they described." Haku answered.

"Yeah, from what I've seen, you should feel right at home. This place fits your ideals." Zabuza replied. It was a bit too peaceful for him, but he'd adjust. It was better than wandering from place to place with no real future.

"Although…" Haku began and Zabuza glanced at him. "The way they looked at Naruto… it reminded me of the glares I received that day…" Zabuza knew he was referring to the day his parents died. "This land is much more peaceful than our homeland, and its people seem welcoming. Why would they treat the boy in such a way?"

"… I have a hunch." Zabuza replied. "It's become common knowledge for those around at the time that around twelve years ago, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox attacked this village. It could be that he's the same as Yagura." Haku's eyes widened in shock. "Well, either that or his old man did something he's being blamed for. Either way, if it matters, we'll find out soon enough."

"You have a point. Though, it's depressing to think such prejudice exists, even in a village like this one." Zabuza didn't respond as he continued inspecting the apartment.

* * *

><p>The next day, the three genin of team seven, Zabuza and Haku, all stood around the posts of the third training ground. Zabuza leaned against a tree with his arms crossed, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.<p>

"We've been here for half an hour. How long does this bastard expect to keep us waiting?" Zabuza growled.

"You should probably get used to it... Kakashi-sensei's always like this." Sakura commented.

"Yeah, he'll probably be here in an hour or two with some lame excuse like 'a black cat crossed my path'." Naruto added.

"… You're joking." Haku stated as he and Zabuza looked skeptically at the genin.

Sasuke scoffed. "If only. Between this and his antics, I had a hard time believing the guy was a jonin until I saw him fight."

"Well screw waiting around." Zabuza said, as he stepped away from the tree. He then grabbed the hilt of his sword. "I was planning on testing you three to see exactly what I was working with anyway. Since Kakashi can't be bothered to be on time, let's get started right now."

Sakura paled while Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked. "Good, I've been waiting for this since we left wave." Naruto said.

"Do you want me to participate?" Haku asked his father figure.

"No, Haku. Just watch and analyze their abilities." Haku nodded and vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing on the branch of a tree, placing his hand on the trunk as he looked at the four. "Alright, show me what you three can do. Don't expect me to hold back just because you're brats."

* * *

><p>Kakashi arrived at the training ground, about two hours earlier than he would have prior to his admonishment at the hands of the Third, to find Zabuza standing over the fairly beaten forms of Naruto and Sakura, with Sasuke trapped over the nearby stream in a water prison held by a clone, glaring at the real former mist jonin.<p>

Zabuza sighed. "… You guys have a long way to go… still I suppose two of you could make it through the exams as you are now… if you're lucky." The missing nin then turned to Sakura, who was still laying on the ground. "You on the other hand… Unless you work your ass off for the next two months, you won't have to worry about passing. You'll be more concerned about surviving."

"Looks like I arrived at a good time." Kakashi commented, ignoring Zabuza's glare as he strolled into the training field.

"Where the hell have you been? You kept us waiting so long, we got started without you." Zabuza growled, annoyed with Kakashi and with how much work two of the genin would need. As he said these words, his clone dispelled, falling apart into water along with Sasuke, who, as he hadn't mastered water walking, fell into the water and began to swim to his team.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way. From there, I'm afraid I got lost on the road of life until I found myself here." Zabuza's eye twitched in annoyance. "Anyway, I got something that I thought would be useful on the way. So, how'd they do?"

Zabuza scoffed. "Quite frankly, Kakashi, they suck." He then gestured towards Sasuke, who had just reached the shore. "The Uchiha brat's alright. He's got a good balance of ninjutsu and taijutsu and his Sharingan let him follow my moves. Lot of good that does if he can't keep up with his opponent, though. He's lucky Haku tried so hard not to kill him back at the bridge." Sasuke, who had just climbed out of the water, grit his teeth but knew he was right.

Kakashi nodded as the two dry genin of his team sat up. "You're thoughts on Sakura?"

Zabuza deadpanned. "She's a fan girl who's completely useless in a fight. I really have to question your village's standards for letting her graduate. She has no unique talents and her taijutsu's pathetic."

"Hey, take that back!" Sakura yelled indignantly, insulted enough to voice her objection, despite still being slightly afraid of the man who almost killed her team.

"Yeah, don't say things like that about her!" Naruto yelled. Although she found him annoying, Sakura was grateful Naruto had her back.

"Girl, the other two at least put up a decent fight. You didn't last five seconds once I turned to you." Zabuza said simply. "Do you train at all outside of what Kakashi required of you, which from what I've heard has been minimal? Have you really tried to improve yourself as a ninja at all since you graduated? Did you actually contribute to your team at all back at Wave?" Sakura looked crestfallen as she couldn't refute his statements. "I rest my case. Listen closely, they say a team is only as strong as its weakest link. Although that's not entirely the case, when one individual has mediocre skill, the rest of the group has to make up for it, lowering success, and more importantly, survival rates. Ninja like you tend to bring the whole team down, either by not contributing, or being targeted and likely captured when the enemy recognizes their lack of talent and singles them out. Unless you improve, you're a liability that could get your entire team killed one day." Sakura's mood continued to sink like a stone in a vast ocean of despair.

Kakashi quickly decided to reassure his student. "Now, now, don't worry, Sakura. You can still become a splendid kunoichi. It'll just take some work."

"Yeah… a lot of work." Zabuza added bluntly. "Alright, what are her strengths?"

"Well, she has an untapped talent for genjutsu and natural near perfect chakra control, she was able to get the tree climbing exercise on the first try. She also had the highest written test scores back at the academy and has decent analytical skills." Kakashi explained. '_Though those tend to go out the window whenever Sasuke's involved…_'

Zabuza scoffed. "Those tests mean nothing in the field. Although, we could work with that intellect."

Haku stepped forward. "If she is good at memorizing facts, I could teach her what I know of the human body as well as medicinal herbs. I'm sure she'd also excel in the creation and use of poisons. If you know of someone with the talent, if she manages to memorize the human body, she'll likely make a good medical ninja. A field I myself am interested in, but was never able to find a proper teacher for."

Naruto looked slightly confused. "Medical ninja? What, you mean first aid? Why would she need a teacher for that?"

"A medical ninja is someone trained to use chakra to heal injuries. The most skilled among them can even heal life threatening injuries in moments on the battlefield, though it consumes a lot of chakra." Kakashi explained. "I was also thinking she could make a good medical ninja… she reminds me a lot of one I knew…" Kakashi trailed off, remembering Rin, which led him to think about his lost team. His years as a shinobi and natural aloofness allowed him to perfectly mask his sense of melancholy which befell him as a result.

"Wow, that sounds awesome." Naruto grinned. He knew he wouldn't really need something like that, even he knew his healing wasn't normal. But he could see how useful such an ability would be.

"Hn, you may be more useful than I thought." Sasuke spoke up, Sakura was torn between being happy Sasuke thought there might be hope for her or sad that he obviously thought little of her current abilities. She decided on the former, as Zabuza's earlier statements had made her somewhat realize that, at the moment, she was indeed largely useless.

"Of course, we'll have to work on her stamina, too…" Kakashi said.

"As for the blond brat-" Zabuza gestured towards the Jinchuriki. "The kid has an knack for coming up with unpredictable strategies and his taijutsu's… passable, but aside from that and the clones, his stamina and his dojutsu, which he doesn't know how to use yet, he's got nothing going for him, not to mention the fact that outside of strategies, he's not the fastest deer in the forest."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled indignantly, raising a fist into the air.

Sasuke, blunt as ever, stated, "Naruto, you're the dead last of our class. Weeks ago, I remember you didn't even know the proper spelling of 'chakra'."

Naruto growled but Kakashi spoke up before he could respond. "Yes, well, I have something in mind that will take care of that."

"Well, I hope whatever you've got in mind works. Kid's not going to make it far as a ninja at this rate." Zabuza commented before turning to Naruto. "And why didn't you try using those eyes of yours?"

Naruto, still irritated at Zabuza's evaluation, replied, "I can't use them and clones and the same time and I don't know how to use their powers yet. I figured I was better off sticking with what I knew."

"Maybe you're a little smarter than I gave you credit for. Using a power your not familiar with is a good way to wind up dead. " Zabuza's eyes narrowed after giving the back handed compliment. "Wait, what do you mean you can't use them and your clones?"

"Well, whenever I use them both, I see out of my clones eyes too. Seeing everything like that makes my head spin."

Kakashi stepped forward, intrigued. "Is that so? Interesting. I want to see this. Activate your dojutsu and create a shadow clone." Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, channeling chakra into them, before opening them. He then made a cross shaped hand seal and called out the name of his most used jutsu, causing a single clone to appear in a poof of smoke. The two Naruto's already seemed slightly disoriented, though not enough that it would keep them from fighting, and the others looked on, obviously interested in finding out anything about the eyes. "Now, close your eyes, just the real you." Naruto did as told. "Now, tell me, how many fingers am I holding up?" he said, holding up two fingers, when the clone opened his mouth, Kakashi stated, "The real you."

"Two." Naruto immediately said, despite having his eyes closed. Kakashi raised a brow before holding up four fingers. "Four." he said as Zabuza picked up a rock. Kakashi put down one finger. "Three." Zabuza then threw the rock at the blonde's head. Naruto saw it through his clone's vision and caught it, opening his eyes and glaring at the former Kiri ninja. "Hey, what gives, Zabuza-sensei?"

Zabuza smirked beneath his mask. "Just another test for ya, kid." Naruto's glare intensified. "Besides, I was hoping to show the usefulness of that ability. So, do you see how this could increase your effectiveness?"

"Huh?" Naruto replied, before thinking about it. "Well… I guess if I could get used to it, I could see the battlefield from different points and see the enemy, even if they're in my blind spot." he said before his eyes widened as another idea hit him. "Or I could use them to scout ahead and spy on enemies."

Zabuza nodded approvingly. "Good. Were it not for that and the stunt you pulled back when we first met, I may have dismissed you as a lost cause by now."

Naruto glared at the demon of the Mist before Kakashi spoke up. "Though I wouldn't be as harsh as Zabuza, I remember how you told me even you had to admit it was foolish to enter Haku's ice mirrors without thinking as you did. You can't deny you could stand to improve your mind, though, that's always a good idea. You could also stand to learn the value of patience." Naruto looked slightly dejected at that. "Fortunately, as I said, I have an idea for how to catch you up in that respect, and every other for that matter."

Naruto's expression brightened at that. "Really? What is it?"

"Well, let's hold off on that until we begin training. Now, before we move on…" Kakashi began.

"Wait a minute? Kakashi-sensei, what's that in the sky?" Naruto inquired, looking directly above them.

"Hm?" Kakashi replied as he and the others followed his gaze. "What are you talking about? There's nothing there."

"He's right, there's nothing but the clouds.." Sakura added. "Unless… does your dojutsu see something?"

"Yeah. I couldn't see it without them, but there's some kind of dome over the village." he replied.

'_Don't tell me the Rinnegan can see the Sensing System Technique's barrier!_' "Naruto." Kakashi narrowed his eye and the blond froze at the coldness in his tone. "You just stumbled upon another S-class secret. None of you speak a word of that to anyone, understand?" he said to the three in the same cold tone, knowing that there was no point in trying to play this off. Naruto and Sakura nodded. Sasuke had grit his teeth and was glaring at Naruto, furious with the knowledge that his dojutsu had been outdone by Naruto's. "That being said, I'm intrigued. Neither of the other dojutsu in our village are capable of seeing it." the white haired jonin said before turning back to Zabuza, who knew not to comment on the subject. Both jonin noticed Sasuke's growing irritation and decided it was best to move on. "Now, if that's all, you three should rest before we begin training, but we may as well get this out of the way now." he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out five slips of chakra paper.

"Ah, you're going to test their affinities? Not a bad idea." Zabuza stated.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "Affinities?"

"Yes, your nature, or elemental, affinities." said the copy ninja.

"You don't remember? They explained this to use in the academy." Sakura said, raising her hand and pointing her index finger to the sky as she began to explain. "There are five basic elements: water, earth, lightning, wind and fire. Obviously, Sasuke's fire style jutsu or Zabuza and Kakashi's water jutsu are good examples. Everyone has a predisposition towards a single element."

Naruto smiled. "Oh, I get it! So, you're going to see what our elements are, Kakashi-sensei?"

"That's right. You're going to channel your chakra into these. How your chakra affects them will depend on your affinity. For example…" he channeled his chakra into the paper and they all watched as it wrinkled. "My affinity is lightning, so my chakra will cause the paper to wrinkle. Fire natured chakra will cause it to ignite and turn to ash, water will cause it to grow damp, earth will turn to dirt and wind will cause it to split in two."

"But, what about Haku's ice element?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi gave a nod. "Good question. Haku, if you don't have a problem with it." he said as he held out another piece of chakra paper to the boy.

"It's no problem." Haku replied before taking the paper and doing as Kakashi did. The paper split in half and grew damp. "My ice element Kekkei Genkai allows me to combine the water and wind elements to create ice."

"So, no one else can use it because they don't have both affinities?" Naruto asked.

"Well, there's more to it than that." Kakashi replied. "Even if you have both affinities, it's very difficult, if not impossible to combine the two elements together unless you have the Kekkei Genkai for it. Although, the Third Tsuchikage possesses something more advanced."

"What do you mean?" Haku inquired.

"Ah, yeah, Onoki of Both Scales." Zabuza stated. "He uses the Dust Element, a Kekkei Tota or Bloodline selection. It combines the fire, earth and wind elements to manipulate molecules, allowing him to reduce his opponents to dust." the black haired jonin explained, shocking the teens.

Kakashi nodded, "The Dust Element was taught to him by the Second, who he had no relation to as far as I know, implying that all one needs to use it is the proper training and the three affinities, although, possessing two of the affinities is very rare outside of bloodline holders." Kakashi explained. "There are also the ninja of the Land of Snow, who use the ice element. Though in their case, rather than combining elements to create ice, all they can do is use their chakra to manipulate already existing ice and snow. Their abilities can't compare to the real thing." Haku seemed slightly surprised that there were other ice elements users, even if they didn't hold the bloodline. "In any case, let's get started. And just to be safe, we'll test Sasuke's too."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and Naruto looked slightly confused. "Why? I mean, don't we already know his element?"

"No, we know he can use fire jutsu. I can use jutsu of all the elements, although I only have the affinity for lightning. The affinity makes it much easier to learn to use the element and its jutsu and few ever truly master more than two, their affinity and one other. The only reason I can use so many is because I've copied jutsu of the other elements. I'm not known as 'the man who copied a 1000 jutsu' for nothing." he said with an eye-smile at the end, reminding the others that, despite his attitude and laziness, he was one of the village's strongest jonin. "The Uchiha take pride in their affinity for fire and teach all their members to use it. They even view learning the Fireball technique as their 'coming of age' test, so it's doubtful they actually tested his affinity, did they Sasuke?" He turned to the Uchiha, who glared but said nothing. "As I thought. Now, ladies first." he said, handing a slip of paper to Sakura.

Sakura took it and channeled chakra into it. In moments, the slip of paper turned to dust and crumbled away. The pink haired girl looked at her now empty hand. "I have the earth element?"

Kakashi hummed. "The earth element… with it, one can harden and strengthen anything they channel it into, increasing its defensive and destructive power. You can also manipulate dirt and mud and move through the earth in various ways." he turned to Sasuke with an eye smile. "Like when I buried Sasuke up to his neck." Sasuke glared at his sensei before his gaze turned the jonin's hand as he handed him his own piece of paper. "Your turn."

Sasuke closed his eyes and snatched the paper from the jonin. He glanced at it as he channeled his chakra into it… and his eyes widened in shock as the paper wrinkled. "What the?" was all the Uchiha could say.

"Well, well, what a surprise. It seems you don't have the fire affinity after all." Kakashi commented.

Sasuke continued to stare at the paper in shock. "But… my entire clan has the fire element…"

"Yes, well, clans are never completely uniform in affinities outside of those with elemental bloodlines. I guess you're just one of the unique ones." Kakashi mused.

Naruto snickered. "Too bad, Sasuke. Looks like you're the black sheep." If looks could kill, Naruto would have been reduced to a smoldering corpse by Sasuke's glare.

Kakashi said. "Now, your turn."

Naruto grinned. "Finally." he took the piece of paper and did as his teammates had and watched the piece of paper grow damp. Before anyone could comment, an unexpected series of events left everyone's mouths agape.

The damp piece of paper wrinkled before splitting in half, one half then burned to ash while the other turned to dust.

Zabuza's brow furrowed. "The hell?"

"K-Kakashi-sensei. I thought you said it was rare that anyone has more than one affinity." Sakura said.

"Hmm… well, I guess this is proof that his eyes are the real thing."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"It's said that the Rinnegan grants its bearer the ability to master all five elements and virtually any jutsu, not counting those that require bloodlines. I guess that would include possessing all the affinities." Kakashi explained.

"So, I can learn every element?" Naruto asked excitedly. Sasuke once more glared at the blond, seeing another example of the Jinchuriki's growing power.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, though it will take time."

"Do you think I could learn to use Haku's Ice Style, too? You did say 'any technique'."

Kakashi cupped his chin and hummed in thought, looking to the sky. "Well, that's what the legends say… and since you have all the elements, considering the Dust element is similar and requires no such bloodline, it's possible. In theory, anyway. We'll have to be sure and explore the possibility." he said before looking back to the genin. "Now, I figured Zabuza would get impatient and get started before I got her, so I brought lunch. Let's get started once we've finished eating."

* * *

><p>Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office, once again taking up his endless battle against paperwork while taking the occasional puff from a pipe in his mouth, when he heard a knock on his door. Hiruzen raised his head and quirked a brow. "Come in." he beckoned.<p>

The door opened to reveal his former friend and rival, Danzo Shimura. Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. In their youth the two had been competitive, but they had been on good terms, but as they grew up, many of their philosophies, specifically, how the village should be run, had changed and were now nearly opposite. They were still on decent terms and, so long as nothing went wrong, Danzo rarely interfered with the way he ran the village beyond voicing his own, conflicting opinion, still, the man rarely came to his office without a reason.

"It's been a while, Lord Hokage. It's good to see you're still managing." the war hawk of Konoha said.

Hiruzen gave a slight chuckle. "I still have a few years left in me. But don't you think you should worry more about yourself? You're almost as old as I am."

"Indeed this is true." Danzo said, turning to the window and looking out the village both loved and desired to protect in their own ways. "Time will soon pass us by. I can only hope the next generation lives up to the challenge." he said before turning back to his old rival. "And hopefully, they don't take the teachings of the Senju to heart." Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. "It would be better if they found their own way, based on their experiences."

Hiruzen nodded, inhaling deeply before breathing out a plume of smoke. "Enough beating around the bush. What has brought you here?"

"I have heard that you have allowed the infamous Demon of the Mist a chance to join our village." Danzo replied. "I merely wish to inquire why you would give him a chance."

"It's a long story, the short version is that the purpose of his coup was to stop the Mizukage from destroying their nation with his prejudice against bloodlines and he was vouched for by two people who's intuition I trust, one of whom being Kakashi Hatake. Know that I am keeping him under observation and intend to speak with him more on these matters."

"Do you intend to have him interrogated? With his knowledge, several of the Land of Mists secret arts could be ours." Danzo inquired. "And perhaps it would be wise to have some… insurance in case he decides to use our trust to get back into Kiri's good graces. I believe his student is young and quite skilled. Perhaps he would benefit from my old teaching methods. If we could insure his loyalty to our village, I'm sure keeping Zabuza under control would be a simple task."

"No. While I do intend to give him and his apprentice the standard interviews and evaluations one would expect, I will not force him to reveal his village's hidden jutsu and he will be allowed to keep some things confidential. And we will certainly not use the boy against him, that isn't how this village operates."

Danzo's eye narrowed. "Once more, your sentimentality prevents the tree that is our village from growing stronger. It is a shame that you follow your sensei's views so wholly." Hiruzen met his glare before Danzo turned towards the door. "In any case, I can rest easier now." the man said, turning to the door. In truth, he intended to make his own observations as well. He already knew how the former Kiri nin was working with Kakashi's team and believed it foolish that Hiruzen had allowed the man to get close to the last Uchiha in their village and their Jinchuriki. Though, with Kakashi near and Zabuza's own skill, he likely wouldn't be able to spy on their training, he would make sure the man wasn't doing anything that could potentially harm their village. And if he did… Danzo was interested in restarting Orochimaru's experiments on bloodline transfusion. Even if he was not allowed use him against the demon of the mist, the man's protégé would provide a powerful new bloodline for the village and his followers in particular, provided his experiments were successful and if not, he could still acquire the genetic material needed to restart the clan in Konoha.

* * *

><p>After the ninja finished their meals, the genin stood before the jonin and Haku.<p>

"Alright, I'll focus on Sasuke right now. Haku will take Sakura while Zabuza trains with Naruto. But first, you're going to learn a more advanced chakra control exercise." Kakashi said. Reactions among the genin were varied. Sasuke looked indifferent, Naruto looked glad to be trained by a jonin who was equal to his sensei, but more serious, and Sakura looked relieved. "Now, as for the idea I spoke of earlier. Naruto, I want you to create ten shadow clones."

"Huh, why?" Naruto asked.

"Tell me, have you ever noticed anything odd anytime you've used that technique?" Kakashi inquired.

"No… I mean, I don't think so." Naruto replied and Kakashi sighed.

"I guess I should have seen that coming… you rarely use them outside of a fight. Ok, Naruto listen closely." the blond nodded. "Whenever a shadow clone dispels, any experience or knowledge they gained is transferred to the user of the technique, understand?" Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened in shock at that, while Naruto just looked blankly.

"Huh?" Naruto responded dumbly.

Sakura groaned. "Ugh, I can't believe you graduated…"

Zabuza face palmed. "Kakashi… I hope this works…" he said, already seeing where Kakashi was going with this.

"Yeah, you're not the only one…" Kakashi replied. "Alright, look at it this way. Let's say one of your clones were to read something." Naruto nodded. "When it disperses, you would learn what it read, understand any better?"

Naruto looked excited. "Yeah!" before he took on a confused expression. "But, why didn't I notice that sooner?"

"Like I said, you've never used them outside of battle. What they experienced was too similar to what you did for you to notice." Kakashi explained as he pulled out a scroll from his vest ""Now, as I said, I want you to create ten shadow clones. While we work on this new exercise, your clones will work on improving your mind." he then opened the scroll, revealing ten books, including a dictionary, one book on anatomy, one book on math and the remaining a few on the finer points of being a ninja.

"Could I use this to learn jutsu faster?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"I think it would be best if you limit their use to gaining knowledge and catching up to your other classmates. This method of learning causes a great deal of mental strain." Kakashi replied. "Besides, considering you were able to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu in a single night, I doubt that that will be necessary."

"Alright! At least I'll be able to get all this without all the boring reading. Sucks for my clones though." Naruto grinned and did as he was told, his clones groaning at being forced to read, while Sasuke scowled.

"Kakashi. Why does the dead last get this special treatment? Couldn't you teach us this jutsu so we could train like this, too?" Sasuke asked, more concerned about his own training than Sakura's.

Kakashi shrugged. "It's not special treatment. Naruto has unusually large chakra reserves. To be more exact, his reserves are massive, even compared to mine. Only someone with reserves as large as his could benefit from training like this; creating enough clones to really take advantage of this method would cost anyone else too much chakra. Even I wouldn't be able to gain anything from it." Sasuke's scowl deepened. "Now, before we begin training in earnest, we're going to teach you three to walk on water."

"What? Are you serious, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I take it this is more difficult than tree climbing." Sakura commented.

"That's right. Due to the shifting surface of the water, you have to constantly calibrate the chakra, rather than maintain a steady flow, or you'll fall in anyway. Allow me to demonstrate." Kakashi said. They'd seen it before, but it was always during the heat of battle. The masked ninja casually walked over and onto to the stream, the water rippling at his footsteps as he walked to its center before turning to face them. "Alright, your turn. Let's see if any of you can make it to me."

The three genin nodded before running forward, focusing on their chakra until . Naruto and Sasuke immediately noticed how much more difficult it was. Naruto made ten steps before failing and falling into the water. Sasuke made it farther but soon suffered the same fate as the blond. As they both resurfaced the looked over to see Sakura standing next to Kakashi, a looking triumphant. "That was easy."

"Well, well. Looks like I underestimated the girl." Zabuza commented.

"Well, this certainly causes a sense of déjà vu, doesn't it?" Kakashi commented, his gaze turning to his two submerged genin. "It seems you've once again been outdone. At this rate, you may not make it to chunin. After the tree climbing exercise, I expected you to work on your chakra control without my need to say so, but I guess I was wrong."

"I'd thought an Uchiha would know how important control is, but I guess, like most of your clan, you're all talk." Zabuza smirked beneath his mask as Sasuke's eyes, blazing with fury, turned to him.

"And Naruto, how will you ever live up to your end of the bargain you made with the Hokage at this rate? Don't you want to learn about your family?" Kakashi's statement added fuel to Naruto's determination. "Now, Sakura, you'll move to the next step."

"Next step?" Sakura inquired.

"Yes, I'll let them take care of that." Kakashi responded, walking towards his two soaked students as Sakura's eyes widened as they shot to the mist jonin.

Zabuza's smirk widened. "Good, as entertaining as it is to watch genin fail miserably, this is far more amusing. It's a lot more difficult to maintain control while in a fight, so you'll be sparring with Haku until controlling your chakra becomes second nature to you."

Sakura paled as Haku stepped onto the water, an apologetic look on his face before several senbon appeared in his hand and he fell into a combat stance. "Prepare yourself, Sakura."

* * *

><p><strong>And that's the end. Hope you liked it. <strong>

**Also, if anyone's worried about Naruto getting sub-elements, don't. They find it's impossible, even for a Rinnegan user. He could learn artificial ones like the Dust Element, shame Onoki would never teach him.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter 3. Sorry for the wait.**

**I've changed my mind about sub-elements. Well, I should say, I haven't made up my mind yet. I think he should be able to use them with the Rinnegan and the proper training, but I'm not sure I should give him that ability because he might become too strong if I do. On the other hand, he'd only be able to learn two of them, he has too much to work on to focus on making them himself and there are only two sub element users in Konoha to teach him.**

**I'd like to thank Pokemaster12 for helping with this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha, covering his mouth as he yawned. The sun had only risen a few short hours ago and most of the people of the village were still within their homes, leaving the streets almost empty.<p>

Making his way to the training ground his team frequented, the blond raised his hand to his eye, moving his sunglasses out of the way before rubbing it. As he neared the gates, he saw his teammates coming from different directions. He smiled and waved at Sakura as she approached.

"Morning Sakura." Naruto greeted before turning to Sasuke, his hand clenching as he glared at the Uchiha who glared back before scoffing and turning towards the training ground.

Sakura sighed at their behavior before she and Naruto followed after their teammate. '_Geez… They're at it already? Ever since Wave they've been even worse, if that's even possible…_'

Naruto turned to his crush. "Hey, Sakura. You think Kakashi-sensei's going to be on time, today?"

Sakura looked at him as if he'd just asked if the sky was blue. "You must be joking. You should know better than that by now."

Naruto sighed, hanging his head down. "Yeah, guess you're right." He then looked at her with a slight grin. "Good thing we have Zabuza and Haku to help us out now, huh? I'm sure they won't keep us waiting until we're dead on our feet."

Sakura shivered slightly at the thought of the former Kiri jonin. "Are you crazy? At least with Kakashi we didn't have to worry about him actually killing us." Haku seemed alright to her, though she did hold some negative sentiments towards him for what he did to Sasuke, but after nearly killing them and learning what she did about him she still found Zabuza a frightening figure.

"Oh, come on. They're not that bad."

"Well… I guess Haku seems alright." Sakura admitted.

"At least they seem to take this seriously, unlike Kakashi." Sasuke spoke, adding his two cents.

"He does usually spend most of his time with us reading his book… I wonder what it's about, anyway." Naruto commented, looking to the sky before turning to his crush again with a smile. "So, Sakura. How about after we finish training today you and I-"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura suddenly yelled. Naruto backed away slightly when the girl balled her hand and raised her fist over his head, but was unable to get out of range before she brought it down on his head, causing him to kneel down, grabbing his now aching head. "It's too early to deal with that."

"Aw, come on. He's not the only one with an awesome bloodline anymore." Naruto said as he raised his head, nursing the lump that had grown through his hair. He didn't think much of it yet. After all, he didn't even really know what they did yet besides what it did to his vision and those two abilities that he still had no idea how to use, but he hoped that might appeal to Sakura.

"And you think that makes up for everything bad about you?" The pink haired girl grumbled as she turned away before adding in a slightly wistful tone. "His Sharingan isn't the only thing that makes him amazing." Sasuke seemed unaffected by her comment.

Naruto hung his head dejectedly. "Sakura…"

The trio soon reached the clearing, before stopping dead in their tracks, almost comical expressions of shock on the two more expressive genin's faces. Even Sasuke's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly at the sight that awaited them. Zabuza and Haku had arrived before them. That, they had expected.

What they hadn't expected was to see Kakashi leaning against a tree, reading his book, having arrived on time despite all the evidence that such a thing would never happen. Even more surprising was his reaction to their arrival: he glanced out them out of the corner of his exposed eye before putting his book away. He then stepped away from the tree and gave them a slight wave. "Hey guys." The copy ninja greeted. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Naruto stared at him incredulously. "K- Kakashi-sensei. You're actually on time?"

"B- but you've never been on time. Not since the day we became a team." Sakura said, looking as if she thought the world might be ending.

"Have I really given you the impression that I can never be punctual?" The copy ninja asked. Silence answered him. The jonin sweat-dropped. To be honest, he probably _would_ have been late, had the Hokage not threatened to give him missions with Gai and his mini-clone: Lee, if he didn't clean up that aspect of his act the previous night. It took all his discipline not to shudder at the thought. "Well anyway, let's get started. We'll pick up where we left off yesterday. And Naruto, don't forget your clones." He said, pulling out a scroll. The blond genin nodded and ten clones poofed into existence. The doppelgangers groaned as Kakashi opened the scroll and gave them the books.

Naruto looked up at his sensei as his clones reluctantly took the reading material. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei. Why can't we move on to learning new jutsu? I mean, if the tree climbing exercise was enough to let us fight Haku, wouldn't it be better if we spent our time learning some cool new techniques?"

Sakura put a hand on her hip. "Yeah right, what fight were you watching?"

"In case you've forgotten, if Haku was more cold hearted, you know, like most missing-nin you're liable to run into, Sasuke would be dead. And for that matter, you'd probably be too. Hell, if you hadn't awakened your bloodline when you did, you probably would have ended up in the same condition as the Uchiha brat." Zabuza said to the blond, who immediately looked to the ground.

Kakashi nodded. "They're right you know. You all have a long way to go before you reach Haku's level. That's just all I could teach you in the time we had. That aside, this is essential for you to learn. Think of it this way, with the control you had before you graduated; let's say you could create two standard clones. With the level of control you have now, you can create three clones using less chakra. In other words, the better your control, the more powerful your jutsu will be and the less energy it'll take to use them. You need the most work in this respect, Naruto. Out of the three of you, your control is the worst, meaning you waste a lot of chakra in your jutsu. Understand?"

Naruto nodded somewhat reluctantly. "Yeah, I get it."

Zabuza turned a thoughtful eye to Kakashi. "Speaking of wasting chakra, something's been bugging me for a while."

Kakashi raised a brow. "Oh? And what's that?"

"Back at the bridge, that technique you tried to shove through my chest… it was basically a solid blade of lightning chakra, wasn't it?" Sasuke looked up at that, now more interested because an apparently powerful technique of his element was being discussed.

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. It's my signature technique: Raikiri."

The demon of the mist tilted his head. "Something like that's gotta be a bitch on the reserves. In fact, I can't remember you using another jutsu for the rest of our fight or against those mercenaries Gato hired. On top of that, I know from an old acquaintance of mine that transplanted dojutsu like your Sharingan take more chakra to use than they do in a natural wielder. My guess is you didn't have enough chakra to pull off another one of those, or any other high level jutsu for that matter. So, why did you use that attack on me when I was pinned down by those hounds of yours and I couldn't move or defend myself? You could have just thrown a kunai for the same effect." The copy ninja remained silent as the group stared at him. "You just wanted to be flashy and show off your best move, didn't you?" Kakashi chuckled and gave them his eye smile as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Zabuza face palmed while Haku gave the jonin a neutral expression and the genin gave him looks that showed he'd lost some of their respect. "You stupid bastard…"

Naruto's eye twitched, a tick mark developing on his forehead as he glared at his sensei. "What was that you were saying about wasting chakra, Kakashi-sensei? For all you knew, Sasuke and I were still screwed and you go and tire yourself out like that!"

'_And he has the nerve to tell us not to waste our energy…_' Sakura thought.

'_There are times I question how he made it to jonin…_' Sasuke thought.

"Now, now. I had the upmost confidence in you." Kakashi spoke to the three genin in a placating tone, which obviously didn't work in the slightest, before turning back to the former mist ANBU. "And you know, you should be grateful I opted to use my best move. If I had simply thrown a kunai as you suggested, you would have died." Zabuza scoffed at that while Kakashi made a mental note not to waste chakra like that again.

Hey, it's not too late to learn something new until your dead.

The silver haired jonin cleared his throat. "Anyway, isn't it about time we got started?"

The other masked ninja let out another scoff before responding. "Guess you're right." He crossed his arms and grinned under his mask as he turned to the sole female in the group. "Hope you do better than you did yesterday, pinky. You looked like a pincushion by the time we were through." Sakura paled as she realized this meant she'd once more be dodging Haku's needles while trying to remain on the water. Haku once again gave the pink haired girl an apologetic look as Kakashi walked across the water, the surface rippling at each step until he arrived at its center.

"Alright, come on. And try not to fall in this time." Kakashi beckoned. Naruto and Sasuke ran onto the water with Sakura close behind when she saw Haku pull out his needles. As the two male genin tried, and failed, to maintain their footing on the water's surface, Sakura struggled to dodge groups of three senbon apiece.

After his twelfth time having to climb out of the water, Naruto growled in frustration. '_Damn it… why can't I get this? It can't be that much harder than tree climbing, right?_' He turned to the other soaked genin, who had just climbed out of the water himself and was stumbling as he balanced himself on the water's surface. The blond then turned to Sakura, wincing as he saw her get hit with another volley of senbon, despite her best efforts. He remembered what it was like to be on the receiving end of those needles. '_She makes this look easy…_'

He then got an idea. He narrowed his eyes as he channeled his chakra into them, seeing the world fade to shades of black with white outlines as his dojutsu activated.

He had to admit that, though it was strange at first, the way he saw the world through his new eyes was invigorating. He could see everything in perfect clarity. He could detect every minute movement or shift in his field of vision. To him, their chakra, normally invisible unless in large amounts, could be seen clear as day. Although all dojutsu could also see chakra in such a manner, only the Byakugan surpassed its perceptive capabilities in this regard. He could vaguely see it coursing through their bodies, though unlike the Byakugan, he couldn't completely see the chakra network or make out the tenketsus. He saw the core of the chakra network, located in the center of the stomach, as a ball of blue fire, and he saw the same effect of dancing flames wherever chakra was being gathered.

He watched as Sakura successfully dodged a few more waves of senbon, yelping as she twisted her body to avoid one group that that nearly hit her side. The Rinnegan bearer watched how her chakra flowed, absently noting that her chakra core didn't seem to be as bright as the other's. He put that aside for now and returned to the task at hand.

Watching his pink haired teammate, he attempted to gauge the amount of chakra she was using to remain afloat and observed how the quantity was in constant flux to compensate for the moving of the water. He then turned and did the same for Kakashi.

After watching both of them and how their chakra flowed for about a minute and channeling his chakra into his own feet to practice, he closed his eyes and climbed out of the water, doing his best to imitate Sakura's chakra flow, watching his feet and how his own chakra interacted with the river's surface. He stumbled twice before he came to a stop, holding his arms out to help balance himself. Naruto smiled at his success as he took a few shaky steps on the water's surface. Although he still had to concentrate hard to maintain it and his feet still slipped through quite a few times, this had definitely helped.

Meanwhile, Sasuke, who had just climbed out of the water, threw a glare in Naruto's direction when he saw he was doing better. Though he couldn't figure out what Naruto was doing differently, he had tried what Naruto had earlier, only to find his Sharingan's ability to perceive chakra wasn't good enough to gauge such a thing. He climbed out of the water once more and, after a few minutes, fell back in. This time, he growled as he looked at Naruto, who was managing aside from the occasional incident where his feet sunk into the water. He climbed out once more, but lasted a mere ten seconds, his anger causing his control to slip.

Kakashi noticed his Sharingan wielding student's frustration towards Naruto's faster progress, but before he could decide on what to do, Zabuza called him and Haku over. Raising a brow at what the former missing-nin could want, he joined him and Haku on the river's shore.

Naruto, who soon stumbled and turned his attention back to his feet, Sasuke, who was still in the water, looked curiously after the three. Sakura immediately stopped channeling her chakra and sunk into the water. She had long since passed the point of exhaustion and would have fallen in had it not been for the pressing need to dodge those needles.

"You ok, Sakura?" The Jinchuriki asked as he carefully moved closer to her.

"Zabuza-sensei wasn't kidding… I need to work on my stamina." The girl replied before turning her head to look at him. "How do you two keep this up?"

"Hope you enjoyed your break, brats." Zabuza called out, getting their attention before his gaze fell the two male genin. "Your control is pathetic. What's your academy teaching you genin these days? You should have mastered tree climbing by the time you graduated and you should have progressed much farther than this after a day." The two glared at him. "I think you could do with some additional motivation. And Sakura, it's time to kick things up a notch anyway." He then nodded to Haku, who proceeded to make the tiger hand seal.

"Water Clone Jutsu!" Haku called out, as water rose in front of him, forming five copies of himself, all of whom proceeded to pull out senbon.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as Naruto and Sakura paled. The blond turned to his female teammate as the water clones lined up at the shore. "Sakura… I think you might have been right about Zabuza-sensei teaching us." The pink haired genin could only nod.

"You brats should know the drill by now." Zabuza said before his gaze turned slightly menacing. "And don't even _think_ about trying to escape underwater."

* * *

><p>Naruto leapt into the air, dodging a wave of senbon before landing on the water's surface. He barely noticed how he, and Sasuke too, were now standing perfectly on the surface of the water. His attention was on the needles that could come flying at him from any direction and the dozen that were already painfully lodged in his flesh.<p>

The group had spent all day on this. There had been a few short breaks and lunch around midday.

Out of the three, he was in the middle in terms of damage. Sakura had fallen into the water due to lack of energy several times and had so many needles sticking out of her that the blond wouldn't even bother to try counting them. Sasuke had about half the amount he had stuck in him. Unlike on the bridge, Haku televised his attacks and made sure his needles hit where they'd do the least damage.

The three dodged senbon for a few more minutes before Kakashi's voice rang out. "Alright. I think that's enough for today."

Haku stopped, his clones falling apart into water as he finally let up. Naruto and Sasuke breathed heavily as they took a moment to rest. Sakura made a slight groan of exhaustion before she simply fell face first into the water, flipping around and floating on her back, unable to even muster the energy to move to the shore. Naruto saw Sakura lying stagnant in the water and took a few steps towards her, his movements shaky due to his lack of control.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Naruto asked as he approached her.

Sakura groaned. "I've never been so exhausted… My legs feel like lead and I can't feel my arms. I don't think I could even make it to the shore…" she said, the tone of her voice conveying her lack of energy to the blond. Naruto allowed himself to sink into the water and wrapped his arm around her, pulling the pink haired girl to the shore. "Thanks, Naruto." She said. Normally, she would be somewhat disappointed that Sasuke wasn't the one who helped her, but right now, she didn't care.

"Don't mention it." The blond replied as he swam back to shore with his teammate in tow.

Sasuke, who had just reached the shore, looked back for a moment as Kakashi began to make a fire for his three soaked students. Cold he may be, but he wouldn't have left Sakura in the water. Seeing that Naruto was taking care of it, he began the task of pulling the senbon lodged in his skin out.

Naruto soon reached the lake's edge and helped Sakura to the fire, sitting her down before they both joined Sasuke in removing the senbon stuck in them.

The ice user looked down at the three genin. "Sorry, guys."

Naruto looked up at the androgynous teen. "It's no problem; you were just doing as you were told." He said before wincing as he removed another needle.

"Well, I have to admit this worked out well. We'll have to keep this up until you master the exercise." Kakashi said, causing the pink haired girl to groan.

"Hey, Naruto." Sasuke spoke up, giving him a slightly irritated glance.

Naruto looked a little surprised that Sasuke spoke up to him before he glared slightly at his fellow dojutsu user. "What do you want?"

Sasuke seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. He didn't like asking for help, and the last time he asked the blond for help returned to the surface of his mind. After a moment, Sasuke responded. "How... how did you suddenly improve back there?"

Naruto's eyes widened before a mischievous glint appeared in them and a smirk spread across his face. "What do you mean Sasuke?" He asked while shrugging his shoulders.

The raven haired boy gave him a fierce look. "You know what I mean."

Naruto raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Alright, alright. I was just playing." He said, the smirk never leaving his face. "I just used my dojutsu to see what Sakura and Kakashi were doing with their chakra and imitated it." Sasuke's eye twitched. "What? Don't tell me the Sharingan can't do that. Guess the Uchiha clan's not so great after all." His rival grit his teeth in anger at that.

Sakura threw the blond an angry stare. "Naruto, shut up and stop mocking Sasuke. Don't act all superior just because you have a better bloodline." She normally would have hit him for that but 1) she was currently too tired and 2) she was kind of grateful to him for pulling her out of the water.

Naruto squinted his eyes and pointed at the raven haired genin. "But he thinks he's better than everyone because he's from _the great Uchiha clan_." He said the clan's name with sarcasm. He didn't think being from a great clan, even being the last survivor of a clan, made someone great or special. He thought his new eyes were kind of cool and would brag about them, but he didn't really think he was anymore special than he was before either. "What's wrong with rubbing in that his clan isn't so great after all?"

"Maybe the fact that he's still the rookie of the year and you're still the dead last?" Sakura replied sarcastically. "Those eyes might be the most powerful bloodline in the world, but that doesn't change that you're still a sorry excuse for a shinobi. And they're not going to do you much good until you actually learn to use them."

Naruto hung his head down before his and the other genin's attention was drawn by a laugh from Zabuza. "Ha. A sorry excuse for a shinobi? You're one to talk." He said, his eyes showing amusement. "While it's true, the kid needs a lot of work, at least he showed some talent back in Wave. I hate to admit that a genin pulled one over on me, but he did mastermind that trick during our first encounter and he has managed to learn an advanced jutsu fresh out of the academy. So far, all you have going for you are chakra control and book smarts. If the two of you fought seriously right now, he'd beat your sorry ass into the ground." Now Sakura hung her head. Naruto, though grateful that for Zabuza's support, was about to protest what he said about Sakura when Kakashi spoke up.

"Alright, settle down, guys." Kakashi commented before directing his gaze to the three genin. "It's nice to see you still have enough energy to fight amongst yourselves, but depreciating each other like this is hardly productive. Now, if you're all finished pulling the senbon out, I brought some snacks."

Once the group had finished their snacks and the genin had completely dried off, they all got ready to leave as Kakashi put the fire the group had finished their snacks and the genin had completely dried off, they all got ready to leave as Kakashi put the fire out.

"Sakura," Haku said and the girl made a sound of acknowledgement. "I'd like you to read these." He said as he pulled out four books.

Sakura raised a brow as she took them, looking at the cover of the one on top.'The Encyclopedia of Plants'?"

Haku nodded. "The other three are on human anatomy, the making of healing salves, antidotes and poisons and basic treatment of injuries. As I said, I believe you would make a good medical ninja. These are things you have to learn before you can really call yourself one. Even if you're not interested or it turns out that it's not your cup of tea, they're still an interesting read, or at least I think so. And it may come in handy some day."

Sakura smiled. Though she still felt some slight ill will towards the boy for defeating Sasuke and making him appear dead, Sakura had to admit he was a nice person. "Thank you, Haku. I'll be sure to take a look at them."

The older boy smiled back. "You're welcome. I hope there's no animosity from our training."

Sakura shook her head. "Nah, it's like Naruto said, you were just doing as you were told." She said before seeing Sasuke walking away. "Hey, Sasuke. How about we go get something to eat on our way home?"

"Hn." Was Sasuke's response before he walked away with his hands in his pockets, causing Sakura's shoulders to slump.

Naruto noticed and said excitedly. "I'd be happy to join you, Sakura."

Sakura, too tired from all the training they did to yell at him, said, "Why would I want to hang out with you?" And began walking off.

Now it was Naruto's turn to slump his shoulders, before he too began a slow march back to his apartment.

He wondered if he'd ever catch a break with her.

* * *

><p>Sakura soon reached her house, made her way up to her room and fell backwards onto the bed, letting the books she was carrying fall beside her. She shivered as she remembered that they were going to do that again tomorrow.<p>

The pink haired kunoichi turned her head and glanced at the books beside her. She always did enjoy reading and prided herself on her book smarts. Taking the encyclopedia on plants and opening it to the first page, Sakura began reading. Half an hour later, she was thoroughly engrossed in what she was learning.

* * *

><p>The genin returned to the training ground the next day and spent the first half of their day dodging senbon on the water's surface. They continued until their break, when Naruto once again had to pull a completely exhausted Sakura out of the water. They had lunch together and now stood before their senseis.<p>

"We're going to do something a little different today." Kakashi began, taking a few steps forward. "You three are going to spar with each other, first Naruto and Sasuke, with the winner fighting Sakura." Normally, it would have been Naruto and Sakura first, but with the blond's crush on the young kunoichi, he may hold back or let himself lose. "When we started, Zabuza took stock of all your abilities. Today, we want to focus on your taijutsu."

Naruto raised a brow. "What?" he said, drawing out the word. "But Kakashi-sensei, weren't we going to work on our chakra control some more. I think I almost got the hang of walking on water."

Sasuke smirked. "What's wrong? Afraid I'll put you in your place?"

Naruto glared at his teammate and snorted. "Hardly. I'll be happy to kick your ass any day of the week. I just want to hurry and get to our elemental training so I can learn some cool new jutsu." Sasuke grunted in response. He had to agree with the Rinnegan bearer there. Though he was still a little irritated by the fact that he didn't have the affinity his clan prided itself on, he wasn't going to let that hold him back and he was looking forward to seeing what he could do with his element.

"Well we felt that, since we were working on your chakra control, we should look at all your basic skills. They are important, you know. You'll suffer down the line if you skip ahead to the more advanced arts without mastering the fundamentals." Kakashi explained.

Zabuza crossed his arms as he looked down at the genin. "Once we see how far along you are with the basics, we'll correct anything that's lacking and work out what fighting style would suit you while perfecting your water walking skill. After you've got a handle on the basics and begun forming your own fighting style, we'll start your elemental training. You should be able to work all this out and at least learn a few elemental jutsu before the exams start."

"We'll also try to improve your teamwork, though as I mentioned earlier, we won't devote as much time to that. And if you learn quickly enough, we'll get you started on collaborative jutsu."

"Collaborative jutsu?" Sakura inquired and Naruto looked at the jonin with a curious expression. Those words also caught Sasuke's interest. The Uchiha frowned slightly as he listened intently.

"Collaborative jutsu refers to techniques that are a combination of several jutsu or a jutsu that requires multiple users." Zabuza explained.

Kakashi nodded. "For example, you've all learned that the wind element is weak to the fire element, right? If you were to try to combat a wind technique with a fire one, unless the wind technique is far more advanced and powerful, the wind will feed the flames and backfire on you. However, if you were to combine a wind technique with an ally's fire jutsu…"

Naruto grinned. "I get it. You'll get a huge fire storm, right?"

Kakashi nodded. "Correct. Another example would be a barrier technique that requires multiple users to create and maintain. Anyway, for that reason, we've decided to start Naruto off with the water and wind elements. That way, you'll have all the elements and potential combinations between you."

Naruto looked excited as he thought of what lied ahead of them. "And what about trying out sub elements?"

"I think you should master all the primary elements before you try to learn those, if you even can. You would need to master the composing elements anyway, so even attempting that is a long way off. And of course, it wouldn't matter if Haku isn't willing to share his family's unique jutsu with you." Kakashi said, giving Haku a glance at the end.

The androgynous teen shrugged. "I don't mind. If he is capable of learning it, I have no problem teaching him my clan's arts."

Kakashi gave the boy one of his eye smiles. "Glad to hear it." he said before moving to the center of the clearing. "Now, let's begin. Naruto, Sasuke, take your places. And Naruto, don't forget your clones."

The two genin took their places, Naruto taking a few moments to create ten shadow clones, who were given a scroll containing a few books by Kakashi and, after groaning about the titles and some coaxing, began reading on the outskirts of the training ground.

Sasuke smirked as he got into his combat stance. "Ready to lose, Naruto?"

Naruto gave a grin. "That's my line. Today's the day I finally wipe that smug look off your face."

"In your dreams, loser." The Uchiha scoffed.

There was a moment's pause before Kakashi raised his hand. "Alright guys, no dojutsu ok? And… begin."

The two genin charged at each other, both looking forward to this fight. Naruto wanted to show his rival that he wasn't the same person he was in the academy, and Sasuke wanted, if subconsciously, to prove to himself that he was still above the blond after the events at Wave.

As Naruto neared his opponent, he threw a punch at the raven haired boy. Sasuke grabbed his wrist with his right hand as the fist approached and redirected the blow, bringing his own fist up to deliver an uppercut to the blond's face. Naruto leaned back, narrowly evading the attack before lashing out with a sweeping kick, forcing the Uchiha to let go of his hand and jump backwards.

Before Sasuke had even landed on his feet, the blond Jinchuriki had launched himself at his adversary. Having remembered the lessons from Wave, Naruto channeled chakra to the bottom of his feet in order to increase his speed, allowing him to move faster then he normally could. This allowed him to close the distance between him and Sasuke very quickly.

It was clear that Naruto had every intention of ending this battle as fast as possible to show Sasuke who the best ninja on this team was.

The moment Naruto reached his raven haired opponent, he reared his fist back near his head, as if winding up for the pitch, and shot it forward towards Sasuke's head. Even without the use of a dojutsu it was clear that Naruto had pumped a lot of chakra into his attack, his entire fist was coated in writhing blue energy. The attack was one that would be quite devastating.

If it had actually hit.

Sasuke had seen the punch coming quite a while before it was actually thrown. It was kind of not to with the way Naruto cocked his fist all the way back, like he was expecting the extra distance to increase the power. What he forgot to think about was that, even if it did increase the power, launching an attack from that position added to the length that his fist needed to move, which in turn increased the amount of time it took for his fist to go from point A to point B, with point B obviously being Sasuke's face.

Therefore it came as no surprise to those watching when Sasuke was able to dodge the attack. A deft and nimble sidestep followed with a slight use of his hand to nudge the blond's attack aside caused it to miss entirely. At the same time, Sasuke quickly stepped into Naruto's guard, where he countered by landing a powerful blow on the blond genin's stomach. This was soon followed up with a kick to the chest before Naruto could react, the results of which caused him to stumble back with a hand on his chest and a pained grimace on his face.

Sasuke smirked as he watched Naruto lift his head and glare at him before jumping back into the fray. The two began to exchange blows, Sasuke deflecting Naruto's attacks and countering, while Naruto avoided most of the Uchiha's attacks.

As the jonin watched, Zabuza confirmed his assessment. Though it was true, the blond's taijutsu was passable, but that was due to his strength and speed, which were decent, his style was more like that of a brawler than a ninja and not really that effective. He relied on his unpredictable strategies, his stamina and his clones to overwhelm his opponents. Sasuke used his family's taijutsu style, and he had to admit he was good at it given his age. It didn't help the blond that his opponent was faster than he was, making this fight fairly one sided.

Seeing Sasuke throw a punch at his chest, Naruto raised his arms and crossed them over his chest, feeling his rival's fist collide with his guard, he prepared to launch a counter attack before he felt the wind get knocked out of him.

Capitalizing on the opening created when Naruto blocked his punch, the Uchiha had brought his knee to the blond's stomach.

As Naruto bent forward involuntarily, he saw Sasuke's fist rising towards his chest. Having no time to react, all he could do was watch the fist collided with his chest. The next thing he felt was a left hook to the face that sent him staggering back. He managed to stay on his feet, determined not to let his rival win again. He turned his head back just in time to see Sasuke running at him, intending to continue his assault, he brought his hand up just in time to block another blow from his adversary.

The Uchiha heir narrowed his eyes when he saw Naruto block his punch. Before his opponent could retaliate, he spun around, extending his leg for a sweeping kick. Naruto jumped backwards to dodge.

Naruto charged forward as soon as he touched the ground and threw a punch at the Uchiha's face. Sasuke ducked under the attack, grabbing the blond's wrist and using his momentum to pull him forward.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as Sasuke pulled him forward before the dark haired boy lashed out with a kick to his unprotected chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him a few feet into the air. Sasuke leapt after him, delivering two punches and a kick to the blond's torso before grabbing him as they fell to the ground, pinning the blond on his stomach with his elbow to his neck.

The Rinnegan bearer growled, realizing he'd lost to his rival again.

"Well, I guess that's it." Kakashi said as Sasuke let the grumbling blond up.

"Yeah, way to go, Sasuke!" Sakura cheered from the sidelines.

"Alright girlie, you're up next. Take your place." Zabuza spoke, grinning under his mask as he saw Sakura's shocked expression.

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. You're up against Sasuke. Now come on. And please, try your best."

After a few moments, Sakura hesitantly stepped up to her position across from her crush. The kunoichi took a deep breath before raising her head and looking at her teammate, who looked at her with a disinterested expression.

Sasuke felt this was a waste of his time. He wanted to fight strong opponents. Naruto now counted among people he considered worth testing himself against after his actions in Wave. Sakura, not so much.

Sakura got into a combat stance, not sure she'd be able to attack but she'd at least try to defend herself. Both jonin noted that her stance was the generic one taught to all students at the academy. After a moment, Kakashi once again raised his hand. "Begin."

What followed wasn't even worth being called a match. Sakura's stance at the beginning was a textbook perfect example of her chosen style… which was actually something of a problem.

Now while having a perfect stance is a good thing, the technique taught at the academy was never meant to be anything more than a placeholder. It was a fairly balanced style with few openings, so it was fairly effective to be sure, but as it was a cookie cutter method it didn't play to any individual ninja's strengths. Sure, one could take it and progress until one was a highly proficient taijutsu fighter, but it would be better and easier to find a style that suited you. It was meant to give the prospective genin a way to fight and defend themselves while they learned what their strengths were until they found a fighting style that took advantage of their natural talents or to provide the building blocks for their own, unique style. Sakura had never tried to deviate from it in the slightest.

On top of that, although it may have had something to do with her crush on Sasuke holding her back, her stance fell apart when she actually moved. Her moves showed that her form was as good as it was due to the drills done at the academy as they revealed a total lack of fighting experience. While it was expected that she fall for a faint, she shouldn't fall for _all _of them and she often overextended herself on defense, her reluctance over fighting her crush keeping her from ever displaying offence. And she was slow, comparable to the average academy students two years her junior in both speed and reflexes.

Sasuke did, at least, go easy on her. His attacks weren't meant to hurt her, simply to open up her guard so he could take her down easily.

"Ok, we've seen enough." Kakashi began. "Sakura, Naruto, I'm not going to lie, both of you need a lot of work. Sasuke, your form's good, but there's always room for improvement." Naruto looked slightly dejected at the evaluation and Sakura took it even worse. Sasuke simply grunted an acknowledgement. "Now, we'll get started on perfecting your taijutsu styles for the next few hours. Sakura, I think Haku would be best suited to aid you. Naruto, I think Zabuza would be the best fit for you. And that leaves me to take care of Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked at getting the teacher he considered the strongest, his satisfaction all the greater after his earlier defeat of his rival. Naruto looked shocked before clenching his fists. "Of course. You're going to hand us off so that you can focus on Sasuke." He said angrily, emphasizing his rival's name. He was so tired of everyone treating Sasuke like he was the best.

Sakura glared at the blond. "Naruto, don't talk to our sensei like that!" she chided.

Zabuza tilted his head to the side and raised a brow. "Oh? You don't like the idea of training under me, brat?" he asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"No, I just don't like that he's playing favorites."

"Now, now, Naruto, calm down. I have my reasons for this." Kakashi said, moving his hand in a placating gesture. He actually wanted to train Naruto as much as he wanted to train Sasuke. The two were the last relatives of the deceased members of his team(not counting Sasuke's brother. But the less said about him, the better).

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Zabuza's just better suited for what I have in mind for you, and I'm better suited to help Sasuke." Kakashi shrugged. "One of my own teammates, from when I was a genin to a jonin, was an Uchiha, so I have a good grasp of their fighting style. I'm also the only other person in the village with the Sharingan. You Naruto, right now, are a power type fighter. You overwhelm your opponents with your strength, which is how Zabuza fights when he's not relying on stealth." The explanation calmed the young Uzumaki down a bit, though he still looked annoyed. "On top of that, I think you might have some untapped potential in stealth. You did manage to paint the Hokage monument without anyone noticing."

Haku gaped while Zabuza gave his fellow jonin an incredulous stare. "_What_?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Shocking, isn't it? But true. He somehow managed to cover all the Hokage's faces in graffiti and no one noticed until he was almost finished. It should go without saying that such a thing is a quite impressive feat, especially in a ninja village." Naruto gave a prideful chuckle while Zabuza looked at the monument in disbelief.

"Yeah, and then he had to spend all day cleaning it up." Sakura reminded him, deflating the blond.

"Fine…" Naruto said after a pause before throwing Kakashi a light glare. "I guess I can't complain. I am getting trained by the guy who threw you into a ball of water, forcing your genin to bail you out." Zabuza chuckled as Kakashi's eye twitched slightly.

'_Well… the kid and I might get along after all._' Zabuza thought as Kakashi was reminded of his near death.

"Don't mock our sensei." Sakura admonished. '_Cha, you tell him!_' Her inner self spoke within her mind.

"Let's get started already. Come on, kid." Zabuza said, walking away and gesturing for the blond to follow as Haku did the same for Sakura. The former mist ninja led the blond into the forest until they found another clearing. "Boy, let me be frank. I'm surprised you managed to graduate." He spoke in a blunt tone, causing Naruto's eyes to widen before his expression shifted into one of anger. The blond took a step forward in an attempt at a threatening gesture.

"What?"

"Until now, your control sucked. You fight like some brawler instead of a real ninja, you have no real stance or taijutsu style. And from what I've been told, you only know one jutsu outside the basic ones. If that stunt you pulled on the bridge is any indication, you don't even have a real grasp of the basics of shinobi combat. Let's face it, you haven't shown any actual talent. The only way you could possible win a fight is by overwhelming your opponent with the sheer number of clones you can make."

"Shut the hell up! If that's true, then how did we get Kakashi-sensei out of that mess you put him in?" Zabuza's eyes narrowed and Naruto smirked. "What's wrong, embarrassed that you got outsmarted by a genin."

"Well, if you're so confident, why don't you show me what you've got?"

"Gladly." Naruto said as he charged at Zabuza, activating his dojutsu as he closed the distance.

Naruto reached into his weapon pouch and threw four shuriken at Zabuza, who easily deflected them all. Thinking he saw an opening as Zabuza knocked the last projectile away like the back of his hand, threw a punch aimed at the jonin's chest. Zabuza easily caught the attack, brought his knee to the blond's chest and kicked him hard enough to send him across the clearing and into the tree hard enough to shatter the bark, causing splinters to rain down as the boy fell to the ground.

Naruto shifted into a crouch and deactivated his dojutsu, bringing his hands together to forma cross shaped hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

In a huge explosion of smoke, Zabuza found himself surrounded by clones. Zabuza gave a short laugh as the clones charged at him from every direction. None of them even lasted a second. Zabuza felled each clone in a single attack. "Come on, kid. Do you honestly think this is going to help you?" All the clones jumped back and launched shuriken at the former mist ninja from every direction.

Zabuza grabbed his sword and spun, deflecting them all with a single movement, only for every one to transform into a clone of the blond. Zabuza scoffed, easily destroying all the clones. Only for his eyes to widen as Naruto's fist came out of the smoke cloud inches away from him. '_Using the smoke from the clones as a_ _cover… pretty good._' He smirked as he leaned back and spun, extending his leg and kicking the blond, sending him into the ground, bouncing twice before coming to a stop on his stomach.

Naruto got on one knee, wiping some blood off of his mouth as the remaining clones prepared to launch themselves at the masked jonin, who simply crossed his arms and waited.

The Rinnegan bearer threw every attack he could at Zabuza, to no avail. Zabuza destroyed the final clone with a kick before finally deciding enough was enough. Seeing Naruto brought his hands together to create more clones, the swordsman shot forward, punching Naruto in the stomach before delivering another harsh blow to his face, sending him to the ground. When he tried to get up, Zabuza brought his foot down on his back, pinning him to the ground.

"You done yet?" Zabuza asked as he looked down at the genin, who struggled for a few moments before giving up. Zabuza moved his foot off of his back and Naruto slowly rose to his feet. "See kid? Your entire fighting style revolves around overwhelming your opponents with those clones. Without them, you've got nothing. You're not even throwing your punches or kicking properly. You've got a pretty good grasp of exploiting weaknesses, not that that's going to do you much good with your limited abilities. Those eyes of yours won't help you either, if you don't know how to use them. From your lack of control, I'm guessing you can't even dispel genjutsu and you've got one technique outside the basics. I'll admit, your strategies are good, but you're not going to get anywhere relying on clones and that ridiculous stamina you've got." Naruto hung his head. "But, this means you're a blank slate. You're just a rookie, it's not surprising you've got nothing going for you yet. Everything you're lacking, you can learn as long as you actually put some effort into it and don't expect everything to just come to you. Even geniuses have to work at this. As for your taijutsu, all we've got to do is find the style that best suits you. You're strategies and your ability to learn such an advanced jutsu despite how recently you became a ninja shows you have potential that hasn't been exploited yet." Naruto's head rose as Zabuza continued, until a smile spread across his face when he finished. "So, kid. You ready to get started?"

"Do you even have to ask? You're talking to the guy who's going to be Hokage some day." Naruto said.

Zabuza gave a short laugh. "That so?"

"Yep, so throw everything you've got at me." Naruto pumped his fist confidently. His confidence didn't waver, even as a sadistic smirk broke out under Zabuza's mask.

* * *

><p>The door to Naruto's apartment opened, revealing a beaten and bloody blond who entered and closed and locked the door behind him. He then dragged his feet through his apartment, heading straight to his bed before falling face forward onto the mattress, not even bothering to change out of his bright orange tracksuit.<p>

After the fight and his lecture, Zabuza sparred with the blond, pounding him into the ground with little mercy, analyzing the genin's strengths and weaknesses, taking note of every aspect of the blond's fighting style and how he moved, attacked and dodged. By the end of it, Naruto had barely been standing.

Thankful for his natural healing ability, Naruto's purple ringed eyes closed and he soon fell asleep, aware that by the time he woke up, he'd be fully healed.

* * *

><p>Naruto once again stood before Zabuza in the clearing outside the Third Training Ground after his team finished their water walking exercises and split into separate groups. The masked jonin had lined up two logs near the edge of the tree line about two yards away from each other before the three genin had arrived.<p>

Zabuza folded his arms as he looked down at the genin. "Let's get started. Listen up kid, I don't like repeating myself." The blond nodded. "Before we begin, the first thing we're going to have to do is unlearn everything you know right now."

Naruto gave him a questioning and slightly shocked stare. "What do you mean, I have to unlearn everything? I spent years getting these moves down."

"You shouldn't have wasted your time. Like I said, you can't even throw a decent punch. You fight like a brawler, putting all of your weight into every single one of your attacks and hoping they'll hit something. This not only means that if you miss, you'll overextend yourself, but it will also leave you open to counterattacks. You also waste a lot of movement and you broadcast your attacks. A fighter with any experience would see your strikes coming from a mile away."

As Zabuza spoke, Naruto's shoulders kept slumping more and more, like a several ton boulder was falling on him with each remark Zabuza made about his taijutsu style, or lack there of.

"What this means is that we need to start from scratch," Zabuza continued, either not noticing or not caring about the blond's increasing depression. It was likely the latter. "I'm going to teach you how to throw a basic punch and string them in combinations. You will then copy my movements, got it?"

"Got it," Naruto mumbled lowly.

"What was that?" asked Zabuza. "I couldn't hear you, did you say 'I need a good ass kicking Zabuza?' Well ok, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"I said I got it!" Naruto shouted, paling at the threat.

Zabuza smirked underneath his mask. "Oh, well you should have spoken up then. Just for that you're getting extra sparring tonight."

Naruto groaned while Zabuza moved up to one of the training posts.

"Now watch carefully brat, because I'm only going to show you this once." Zabuza suddenly lashed out with his fist, punching the log with enough force to make it shake. It was fast enough that it was enough to leave a small dent in the log, but slow enough that Naruto could see it.

"Notice then when I throw a punch, I always start from the waist. This is so that my punches have enough power to actually do some damage. You should also notice that when my fist is near my waist, my hand is running perpendicular to the ground, yet when I throw it out, the fist corkscrews and ends up running horizontally by the time it's fully hyper extended. That is how a basic punch is thrown, now hop to it brat!"

Naruto stepped up to the unoccupied log and imitated Zabuza's motion, through his punch wasn't strong enough to budge the hunk of wood.

"Good, now repeat with your other hand." The demon of the mist watched as Naruto did as told before turning to him, waiting for his next order. "Don't just stop, dumbass. Keep it up until I tell you otherwise." Naruto growled slightly at the insult. "What was that?"

Rather than answer, the blond began throwing punches at the log. Zabuza watched Naruto continue this for a few minutes before stopping him and showing him a four hit kata comprised of two punches identical to the previous ones with two kicks in between. The jonin then stepped back and watched as his temporary student repeated these movements. Eventually, due to the monotony of the act and muscle memory, the boy put too much weight into one of his punches. Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he saw the blond begin to fall back into his old way of fighting.

"Stop."

Naruto stopped mid punch and turned to the swordsmen with a raised brow. "What's wrong?"

"You screwed up, that's what. You lost focus and let your moves get sloppy." The masked man stated before walking away. Naruto tilted his head and then his eyes widened when Zabuza returned, carrying to boulders, each about three times the size of the Rinnegan bearer's head. Zabuza walked up to the boy as though the stones were as light as feather before dropping them at the blond's feet. "Pick those up and give me twenty laps around the clearing."

"What?" Naruto yelled.

"You heard me. Now get to it." Zabuza said before pulling out a kunai. "Or do you need some added incentive? It works so well with your water walking." Naruto's eyes widened, a trace of fear spreading across his face.

"No, that's alright!" Naruto spoke in a hurried tone as he shot forward so fast one out almost think he used a body flicker, quickly picked up the boulders, holding them over his shoulders, and began running around the clearing. "I'll do exactly as you said!" Zabuza crossed his arms and watched.

After ten minutes, Naruto finally finished his laps. He dropped the boulders in front of Zabuza and crouched over, placing his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily. The jonin allowed him to rest for a minute before jerking his head towards the log. "That's enough rest, back to work."

Naruto glared at his sensei and grumbled as he stepped up to the log again and got back to practice. After a few minutes, Naruto's made another move wrong. "Stop. You screwed up again. Start running."

Naruto turned back to Zabuza, his mouth agape and his eyes wide, before picking up the boulders and making another set of laps around the clearing.

* * *

><p>Sakura stood before Haku in their own clearing. Like his master, he had decided to build Sakura's fighting style from the ground up. He had Sakura undergo a similar exercise to what Zabuza had Naruto do, although he was much more forgiving about it, simply correcting her when she made a mistake and allowing her brief breaks. Unlike Naruto, Sakura did know how to throw a decent punch. That's not to say she didn't have her own problems, beyond her physical abilities or lack thereof.<p>

Sakura stopped her kata and turned to her temporary teacher. "Uh… Haku." She began, causing the dark haired boy gave her a questioning look. "Can I ask why you have me doing this? I mean, you told me my form was good and that the problem was my style. So why do you have me practicing these katas?"

Haku raised a brow before crossing his arms and closing his eyes as he began to explain. "Well, though that's true, that's not your only problem. No offense Sakura, but you're lacking in strength, speed and stamina. And though you're form is good, as Zabuza said you're not very skilled. There's also a large problem in your offensive strategy. You put all your strength into every attack, most likely in hopes of ending a battle quickly and pushing your enemy away. This doesn't mesh well with your lack of physical strength. You'll just tire yourself out without doing any real damage." He opened his eyes and looked at the pink haired girl, who seemed a little dejected at what his assessment of her skills. "But this can all be fixed in time. I taught you these katas to get you used to stringing attacks together. And I intend to teach you to attack the body's soft areas, such as the throat, nose, eyes, kidneys and the solar plexus. This will allow you to deal more damage and incapacitate your enemies quickly, to compensate for your current lack of stamina. There are also a few exercises I have in mind to help with your physical abilities."

Sakura smiled slightly. "I see. Thank you." A thought then occurred to her and she gained a worried look. "Wait, what kind of exercises do you have in mind? You're not going to make me wear weights or something, are you?"

Haku's eyes showed disapproval and shook his head. "No. While that would help you grow stronger and faster, the constant use of the muscles in your arms and legs in such a manner would cause them to become bulky, making you stronger at the cost of flexibility. I have other exercises in mind for you that will build your strength and speed more naturally. We'll get started on those later. Also, if I'm not mistaken, you've been dieting, haven't you?" The pink haired girl paled slightly and nodded. "I'm going to have to ask you to stop and to start eating a normal diet."

Sakura looked as if he had just asked her to do the impossible. "Bu-but, if I do that, I'll lose my figure." She said, her tone fearful as she imagined herself becoming fat and becoming unattractive.

Haku's eye twitched before he sighed. He was beginning to see why Zabuza was annoyed by the thought of training a 'fan girl' as he called her. "Sakura, your body will need energy and nutrients for your muscles to develop."

"But I've spent all my life striving to maintain my figure."

'_Which is probably part of the reason you have this problem now…_' Haku thought with another sigh. "You needn't worry; your body will use most of the calories as it develops, so it won't harm your figure if you continue training…" Seeing her still unconvinced expression, he pressed "… Besides, your body needs the energy to grow properly. Without it, your growth will be stunted, and not just in muscle strength."

That got Sakura's attention. "Really?"

"Yes. Not only does not eating properly slow the development of muscles, doing so while your body matures can also stunt your physical growth, and prevent your body from developing properly during puberty. Meaning, for example, you could wind up with smaller breasts than you would have otherwise." He could see from the look on the girl's face that got to her. "Anyway, I believe you've been practicing katas for long enough. Have you given any thought to what style you want to learn? How exactly do you wish to face an opponent?"

Sakura shook her head to clear her mind of the previous topic before her brow furrowed as she thought before answering. "Well… Kakashi-sensei always said I have talent in genjutsu. I guess I'd like to use that to throw off my opponent and then defeat them before they can recover. I could use that to help my teammates too."

Haku nodded. "Good. But in terms of taijutsu and physical combat?"

"… To be honest, your style seems like something I'd like to use." Sakura said and Haku raised an eyebrow. "I've been reading those books you gave me, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in the medical skills you talked about. Using senbon to target vital spots and pressure points sounds like a good way to fight. I'd also prefer to use speed over strength; I think I'd like to evade my opponent over trying to block their attacks if I could and what you said earlier about targeting vulnerable areas sounds good if I get drawn into close combat."

Haku nodded. "Very well. I will teach you the basics of my style. We will work on increasing your speed and precision as I teach you all the body's weak points and we'll work on your accuracy with senbon to form the basis of your own style. However, you should keep in mind it'll take a lot of work to gain this level of speed and accuracy." Sakura hesitated for a few moments as she thought of what she was committing herself to before nodding. After a pause, Haku sighed and closed his eyes. The girl may have been a bit more willing to train after Zabuza's blunt assessment of her abilities, but she wasn't driven to really put her best into it. "Sakura, let me ask you another question. Why did you become a ninja?" His eyes opened and his gazed into her questioning stare. "Why do you fight and wish to become strong?"

"Wha… what do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Haku replied before elaborating. "You don't seem to be putting your all into this. Unlike your teammates, there seems to be nothing driving you. You're only putting as much effort into this lifestyle as your teacher demands of you. In doing so, you endanger the lives of your fellows. So I ask you, what was your motivation for becoming a kunoichi in the first place?" After another pause he continued. "In choosing to become a ninja, you've chosen a profession in which you will have to fight, kill, and risk your own life in order to survive. There are many other lines of work you could have chosen in which you would have been allowed to live peacefully. I myself do not like killing or inflicting harm. I became a ninja for two reasons. For the first, given my background and the bleak outlook of my life, I didn't have a choice. The second is loyalty and duty. When I had no future, no purpose, Zabuza was there. He saved me from a life on the streets and gave me a reason to live. For that reason, he is precious to me. To serve and protect him, I wish to become stronger." Sakura's eyes widened. "Naruto wishes to become strong to fulfill his dreams and to protect his own precious people. Others who choose this life do so out of duty to their family, clan or village. Which they are more loyal to is up to the individual, but they all fight for the honor and well being of what they've dedicated themselves to. Others fight because, like Naruto, there's something they wish to accomplish. Some fight for revenge. Though, hopefully, they don't allow themselves to be consumed by the hatred that drives them and may eventually find other things they care about, their motivation is to gain the strength to strike down those who wronged them…"

Sakura's gaze fell to the ground as she considered ice user's words. As she took in everything he was saying, a look of contemplation came over her face. Her brow furrowed when he spoke of revenge, remembering Sasuke's words when Kakashi asked about his dreams. '_I'm going to restore my clan. And destroy a certain someone…_'

"…Others wish for power for selfish reasons. They care little, if at all, for the things others hold dear or even the lives of others and care only for their own advancement, always craving more power and recognition. Perhaps for selfish goals, perhaps simply for power's sake or out of a desire to be the strongest. Either way, they seek to grow strong for themselves." Haku's expression turned serious. "What do you fight for, Sakura?"

"I… I…" Sakura muttered, still staring at the soil. For so long, she'd just been living life carefree. She'd thought only of positive things, like gaining Sasuke's affection. She knew the rules of shinobi conduct and what was expected of her as a kunoichi, but she hadn't really thought about it in so long. Similarly, she hadn't thought of the reason why she had chosen this life in so long it was buried deep within her mind. Soon, the memory of her original motivation came to her. "My father." She finally answered. "My father was a shinobi. He died when I was very young, too young to even remember him." She looked up at the androgynous teen. "I became a ninja because I wanted him to be proud of me."

Haku nodded. "So, you chose this life to follow in your father's footsteps. That is a good enough reason, but it doesn't seem to really motivate you. Maybe because, as you said, you have no memories of him. It is hard to fight on behalf of someone you never knew. Personally, I believe that one can only awaken their true strength when they have someone or something important that they wish to protect." He let his words sink in. "Think of what I've said, and what you really wish to do or accomplish with what you learn. For now, let us begin, if you are ready." After a moment Sakura nodded. "Follow my movements as best you can." The boy said before shifting into a combat stance, which she imitated.

* * *

><p>"Ok, Sasuke." Kakashi began as he looked down at the last Uchiha in Konoha, who was sitting with his arm propped up on his knee, panting slightly. Unlike his teammates, there were no major flaws that needed to be corrected in the boy's taijutsu and he was quite proficient in his clan's fighting style for his age. There was always room for improvement however, and he was sure what he was doing here would not only help with one weakness the boy had at the moment, it might also help deflate his ego a bit. While he was somewhat better than when they started, the young Sharingan wielder's arrogance was still an issue. "Now that we've finished our warm up, it's time we got started." Sasuke glared at his sensei as he got back on his feet. Since when had his idea of a warm up been beating him into the ground? And what was worse, he had forbidden him from using the Sharingan. "And Sasuke, remember, no Sharingan."<p>

Sasuke growled in anger. "What's the point of this, Kakashi?"

"Oh? You mean the reason you're not allowed to use your Sharingan?" He questioned nonchalantly. "I'm impressed. To be honest, I'd expected you to complain much sooner." Sasuke answered with an anger filled stare. "Fine, I'll answer your question. Better yet, how about I show you? Sasuke, I'm going to hit you in the center of your torso. Try to stop me, without your Sharingan."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He quickly fell into a combat stance as Kakashi shot forward. Knowing where he was going to attack, Sasuke raised his guard, attempting to shield his torso.

But it was to no avail. Faster than his eye could follow, Kakashi had closed the distance between them, his fist already passed his guard and on a collision course with its target. Pain coursed through his system as his sensei's fist smashed into his solar plexus, the impact sending him flying through the air. The onyx eyed boy landed on his back where he grabbed his stomach and chest, coughing as he tried to breath. He gave his teacher a one eyed glare while he tried to catch his breath. After a few moments, he began to stand.

"Do you understand what I'm trying to accomplish?" The copy ninja asked. Seeing Sasuke's fierce look, he sighed. "I guess not. Ok, we're going to do this again. And this time, since I know you're just itching to do so, you may use your Sharingan. Now, try to stop me."

Sasuke smirked. Within the blink of an eye, his coal colored irises bled crimson, two tomoe marks appeared in his right eye, while one appeared in his left as he activated his clan's dojutsu. With the power of his clan's Sharingan, blocking his sensei's attack would be easy.

Or so he thought.

He saw the attack coming a mile away; it was as if Kakashi's fist was moving in slow motion. He could see everything, he knew exactly where the attack would hit, when it would hit, and could even judge the timing it would take to properly deflect the attack.

It was with a slow widening of his eyes that Sasuke realized he still couldn't block. He could only watch as his sensei's attack rapidly approached, his eyes seeing the movement a second before it occurred, but his body simply too slow to keep up. He saw the fist once more pass his guard, now too close to avoid or dodge.

He got hit, hard.

He hadn't even had the time to brace himself before his teacher's fist was buried in his gut once more, launching him into the air. It was there that it really sunk in, that horrible feeling of seeing something coming, but being completely unable to avoid or stop it. He landed on his back, holding his stomach and coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

Kakashi looked down at the coughing boy. "Maybe now you can understand." The silver haired jonin began, causing Sasuke to look up at him as he tried to breath. "Your Sharingan didn't help you at all, did it? The Sharingan certainly is an impressive tool, but it's just that and a tool, no matter how powerful, doesn't make a ninja truly great. Even though you knew where I was going to hit you, even though your Sharingan allowed you to predict my movements, you weren't able to avoid my attack. You're body simply wasn't able to keep up." He paused as he allowed his words to sink in and waited for Sasuke to sit up before continuing. "As you know, the Uchiha style relies on your ability to predict your opponent's moves and counter them, which is why you're not allowed to use your dojutsu. We're training to improve your speed and reaction time, and using your eyes would hamper that. After all, if you see my attack coming from a mile away, then you would prepare for it rather than simply react." Realization dawned in the genin's eyes at that, now understanding the reason he wasn't allowed to use his clan's famed eyes. "Now, answer me this, Sasuke. My attack just now… if you were able to respond quickly enough to deflect it without the Sharingan, what would you be able to do with it?" A smirk spread across Sasuke's face and the jonin nodded. "I see you understand. Good. Of course, we'll need to train your Sharingan too, but that will come later. Now, get back on your feet." The silver haired man waited for his student to stand and hoped he took his words about his bloodline to heart.

* * *

><p>As the sun stood just above the horizon, Naruto laid on the ground before Zabuza. Zabuza looked up at the darkening sky for a moment before is gaze fell back to the blond.<p>

"Alright, I'd say that's enough for today. I'd say we made some good progress here." Zabuza said.

"That's good…" Naruto said weakly. "Goodnight…" his head then fell, hitting the ground as he went limp.

"Wha… hey!" Zabuza stepped forward, eyeing the unconscious genin. He nudged him with his foot twice, hoping for a response. When there was none, he sighed. He then kneeled down, picking the blond up and swinging him over his shoulder. He then stood up and walked through the trees back to the main training ground. When he neared Kakashi, who was standing before an exhausted Sasuke, turned to him. "Ah, Zabuza. I see you pushed Naruto a bit hard."

Zabuza snorted. "I see the stories I've heard about you left out that you have a talent for stating the obvious."

Kakashi eye smiled at the former mist ninja. "They also tend to leave out my humble personality and glowing sense of humor."

"Yeah, I'm sure they just forgot to mention those." Zabuza replied in a deadpan voice. "Now, you mind telling me where this brat lives?"

* * *

><p>The next day, Naruto continued to repeat the set of moves that Zabuza had shown him. He could at last throw punches and kicks that met Zabuza's standard, though he still had no real style.<p>

"Ok, brat, that's enough." Zabuza spoke up, surprising the genin a bit. "It's about time you decided what kind of fighting style you want to learn." The boy's eyes gained an excited gleam, which was quickly taken away by the masked jonin's next words. "And for that, I want you to head to the library."

"What?" Naruto almost yelled. "Why do I have to go to that place?"

"Because brat, it's the best way for you to see what's out there. There are countless fighting styles in existence and I'm not a walking encyclopedia of combat styles. If you had more of a fighting style to begin with, we might have been able to work with it and develop a style for you, but that isn't the case. Do you even have any idea how you want to fight? Besides wanting to beat up the enemy with strong attacks?"

Naruto looked to the ground. "Well…"

Zabuza crossed his arms. "Exactly. Now get to it."

Naruto took a step forward as if to challenge the man, desperate to avoid going to one of the places he considered the most boring on the planet. "Aw come on." He then pointed in the direction of the main section of the training ground where the two Sharingan wielders trained. "Can't I just ask Kakashi? With his Sharingan, he's probably copied dozens of different styles."

The former mist ninja raised a brow. "… That's a good point." He conceded. "But I think this will prove the better option. Now go. And I won't teach you anything else until you come back with something."

Naruto's eyes widened before he quickly agreed and bolted off as Zabuza watched. Once the blond was out of sight and he was alone, the former missing-nin made his way over to a nearby tree, pulled out a familiar orange book and leaned back against the trunk as he flipped open to the page he left off and began reading.

He may not borderline worship the text like a certain silver haired jonin, but he did enjoy it. As he began catching up, he considered what he was going to do with the rest of the day. The blond wouldn't be back until at least tomorrow if he knew what was good for him, this would serve as a major part of his fighting style for the rest of his life.

* * *

><p>After making a brief stop at his apartment to get his backpack, Naruto found the village's library easily enough, though it had taken a while to find someone willing to give him directions. He stepped in through the buildings double doors and his arms fell limp at his sides as his eyes scanned the massive room, looking over all the bookcases and walls covered in books and scrolls.<p>

"Aw man… How am I ever going to find anything in all this?" He asked himself as his eyes continued to wander. With a sigh, he decided he might as well get started. The blond walked to the nearest bookcase, skimming over the titles in search of taijutsu style.

Ten minutes later, Naruto let out a slight growl, his fist trembling at his sides as he walked down an aisle. He had found nothing even close to what he was looking for and he would have long since given up had it not been for Zabuza's threat. The Jinchuriki was about ready to pull his hair out as he reached the end of the rows and examined a wall of books, finding nothing on taijutsu. "I can't believe this. How hard could it be to find one subject in this place?" The blond said, not noticing a nearby door opening silently. He turned and took three steps before suddenly crashing and falling backwards, landing on his rear and hearing someone else do the same. A noise of shock, feminine in origin reached his ears and he opened his eyes to see who he'd run into.

Before him sat a girl who seemed to be a little older than he was. She was wearing a white lab coat with a red dress. Her eyes were hidden like his own, though instead of sunglasses she wore odd, swirl tinted glasses. She had a forehead protector wrapped as a sash around her waist, showing the girl was a kunoichi. Littered on the floor were three scrolls and a box the girl had been carrying. "Ow… Oh, sorry about that."

Naruto started to get up. "No need to apologize. It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention." He said, extending his hand for her. She took it and he pulled her up. "I've been told that happens a lot."

The girl chuckled slightly as she brushed her coat and dress off as Naruto gathered the things she'd dropped. "Thanks. I'm Shiho." She said as he handed her the box and scrolls.

The blond gave her a wide smile. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki. Good to meet you."

The girl seemed slightly surprised but then nodded. She had heard bad things about the kid in front of her, but he didn't seem that bad at all. With a smile of her own, she spoke. "Well, it's nice to meet you too, even if we had a bumpy start. What brings you here today? Are you looking for something?"

Naruto's grin became tinged with excitement as he realized that this girl could probably help him locate what he was looking for. "Yeah, is there a section on taijutsu styles around here?"

Shiho raised a brow. "Of course. It's next to the weapons styles and physical conditioning segments. Do you want me to show you?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks a lot, I've been here forever."

Shiho gave a giggle as she turned, leading him through the aisles until they reached the back wall. "Whoa…" Naruto said as his eyes roamed the wall before him, each shelf full of scrolls on various taijutsu styles.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Good luck finding what you're looking for," Shiho said as she walked away.

"Thanks for the help." Naruto called back to her before turning back to the wall. Taking the nearest scroll, he began reading.

Half an hour later, he sat on the floor, reading an open scroll. Surprisingly enough, he found he actually enjoyed this. The scrolls had detailed illustrations of the awesome moves he'd eventually be able to do if he chose this style and he found himself imagining doing these performing these attacks and counters(usually on Sasuke) as he read on. After another half hour, he found there were three styles he was interested in. His favorite relied on misdirection. On using counters and feints to make openings and baiting an opponent into seeing a non-existent opening. Problem was, it was lacking in offense. That was when he remembered Zabuza's words and got the idea to take the best of these different styles to form the base of his own unique one.

Rolling up the scroll with a smile, he began to walk out before a thought stuck him from out of nowhere. He quickly ran off to where he met Shiho and searched. After a few moments, he grinned before making a cross shaped hand sign. In a flash, five shadow clones appeared and scattered, looking all over for the blond girl. As soon as one clone located her, it dispersed, followed by the others since the search was over. The blond quickly made his way to her location. He found her waiting, having noticed the clone and guessed that the real one wouldn't be far behind. "Is there something else I can help you with?"

"Yeah. Do you have anything on chakra control?"

* * *

><p>"Thanks again." Naruto called back, waving at the girl wearing the swirl tinted glasses standing outside the libraries door. He had found three scrolls he'd decided to check out, the taijutsu scrolls and two on advanced chakra control exercises he was sure would be useful later, all of which he kept in his backpack.<p>

He walked down the streets of Konoha, humming a tune. Despite his initial misgivings, his trip to the library had turned out well and the whole affair had put him in a good mood. He decided he'd finish off the day with no less than a dozen bowls of Ichiraku ramen.

The perfect way to end a good day… or a bad one… or any one really.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Haku and Sakura walking towards him, laughing over something he hadn't heard. There was a brief flash of fear that the pair were on a date before he walked up to them. "Sakura, Haku."

The pink haired girl and the androgynous teen turned to him. "Naruto? What're you doing out here?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, I was just coming from the library and thought I'd head to Ichiraku's."

Sakura gave him an incredulous look. "The library? You? The one who couldn't even spell chakra properly? Since when did you grow a brain?"

"… That hurts, Sakura." Naruto hung his head down, only to look up as he heard her giggle.

"I'm just kidding. So, I guess all that reading Kakashi-sensei had your clones do is already starting to pay off, huh? So, what were you looking for?"

"Well, Zabuza-sensei said I should look for a fighting style I was interested in, but I found some scrolls on chakra control I thought might help me down the road."

Haku nodded approvingly. "I'm glad to see you're taking initiative."

"But enough about me, what are you two doing out here? Don't tell me you're on a date, Sakura. How could you do that to us?"

Sakura glared at him slightly. "Don't be stupid, it's nothing like that. We're just friends."

The blond perked up. "Oh, then how about joining me to Ichiraku's, huh? And then how about we do something? Just the two of us?"

"Not a chance, Naruto." Sakura said flatly.

"Oh, come on. It could be fun and I'll pay for everything. What have you got to lose?"

"How about my dignity?" Sakura asked, getting annoyed. "Naruto, get it through your head that I'm not going to date you. Ever. Not if you were the last male in the village." She then sighed and placed a hand on her face, not paying attention to the blond's hurt expression. "I was having a good time, and you've ruined it, as usual. Just go, ok?"

Haku looked shocked at the pink haired girl as Naruto's face fell and he walked off dejectedly. "Sorry…"

Haku's gaze went back and forth between his temporary charge and the retreating figure of the Jinchuriki before turning to Sakura with a frown. "Sakura, have you always treated him that way?"

"Huh?" Sakura turned to him before she shrugged. "Yeah, why?"

"Why would you treat him like that? Did you see how much you hurt him?"

Sakura made a surprised sound before saying. "Well... he's annoying. He's always gotten on my last nerves with almost everything he does. He's loud and obnoxious, and on top of that he's got this crush on me and he never leaves me alone about it. "

"And that's reason enough to treat your teammate in such a manner?" The ice user asked and Sakura seemed to consider his words. The teen sighed after a moment. "Sakura, have you noticed how everyone looks at him? How much hatred he has directed at him by the people of this village?"

Sakura blinked. "Well, recently yeah. But it's probably something he brought upon himself with all his stupid pranks." She said, though she secretly enjoyed the pranks and her inner self voiced that.

"Sakura, do you honestly think he could have pranked everyone in Konoha to the point that they'd all glare at him like that?" Haku asked, causing the pink haired kunoichi to think about it for a moment. "Sakura, do you remember what I told you about why he wants to get stronger. He would go to any lengths to protect those precious to him, and I'm sure you're among those people. Please ask yourself, are you being a good teammate, a good friend, to him?" He said before heading off after the blond, leaving Sakura standing in the middle of the street, lost in thought.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat at the counter of the ramen shop that was almost a second home to him, staring at the counter with a depressed expression on his face. Well… at least he had ramen to cheer him up.<p>

Teuchi walked over to his place, carrying his order. "Order's up. Hey, what's the matter? You look like a lost puppy."

Naruto sighed. "It's nothing."

The old man saw that he didn't want to talk about it and nodded. "Well, here's your order, first bowl's on the house."

"Thanks." Naruto replied before he began slurping down the food. He stopped when he sensed someone sit down beside him and looked up to find Haku.

"Hey. I thought I'd join you." The ice user said.

"Ah, hey there. Haku, right?" Teuchi said, getting a nod in response. "What can I get you?"

"One bowl of shrimp ramen, please." He said before turning back to the blond. After giving the blond a few moments, he asked. "Do you want to talk about what just happened?"

Naruto put on a fake smile. "Nah, it's fine. She's usually like that when I push her too far. I'll be fine, and I'll get through to her someday. I know it."

Haku sighed. "Naruto… I understand that you like her, but you may want to tone it down a bit." Naruto turned to him. "She feels like your pestering her. It's part of the reason she treats you so poorly." Naruto's gaze fell back to his food, stirring the noodles in he bowl as he thought about what the ice user was saying. "… Actually, it might help if you learn a bit about manners and tact in general. I could help you with that, if you want."

Naruto raised a brow. "Huh? Why do I need to learn that? It's not going to help me be a better ninja."

"Perhaps not, but it may help you become a good leader." Seeing Naruto's questioning gaze, he elaborated. "I've noticed that you don't treat most people with much esteem. While ignoring formalities and social standing is fine in some situations, such as with friends or people who don't care about such things, there are cases where showing the proper respect is necessary, and from what I've seen, you wouldn't bother with it even in those cases, and aspects of your behavior, mainly your manners and tendency to announce your presence and show off, are not only trying but in the latter cases unbecoming of a ninja."

"I don't know…"

"It might make you less annoying to Sakura. And it could only help you in the future. You'll find some people are not amused by dismissing formality and etiquette. You're dream is to become Hokage, right?" Naruto nodded. "As Hokage, you'll have to meet with the daimyo of this country and foreign leaders, including other kage. While some won't care, or possibly even find your lack of social graces refreshing, others will be offended. You could even potentially cause negotiations for an alliance to break down or start a war."

Naruto blinked. Though he didn't really get it, he had seen how he could get on some people's nerves, though the feeling was generally mutual. The image of him, older and wearing the Hokage robes he desired so much, speaking to a foreign kage, annoying him as he had Sakura and several others, and causing a breakdown of negotiations. He then thought of how the people of the village would claim he was a poor leader because of it, or the worse alternative, a war breaking out, simply because he offended the other leader. With a jerk and a shake of his head as if to rid the thoughts from his mind, he quickly turned to Haku. "Ack! Could something like that really happen just because of the way I act?" Seeing Haku nod he cringed slightly. "Well, if it helps me be a better Hokage, I guess I have no choice, though I'm not going to make any promises. Besides, I've got nothing to lose."

Haku smiled. "That's all I ask. And it's not like you'll have to act differently all the time. You just need to learn when the situation calls for it."

"And speaking of manners and tact," Ayame commented as she came up to them, placing her elbows on the counter, chin on the butt of her hands, as she leaned against it. Her eyes flickered over to Haku briefly, blushed, then looked back at Naruto. "We should probably start with your eating habits. They're absolutely atrocious."

Naruto blinked. "Eh?"

Haku nodded in concurrence with the Ramen waitress's words. "I agree, I've seen you eat, especially Ramen. Your eating habits are so bad that I've seen a few people get sick just watching you." He looked over at Ayame and smiled. "Thank you for pointing that out, Ayame."

Ayame blushed. "N-No problem."

"But-"

"Now! I believe we should get started as soon as possible." Haku clapped his hands. "Every day after your training with Zabuza, you will come here and Ayame and I will begin imparting manners and good eating habits to you."

"Right, right." Ayame nodded her head effusively.

Naruto looked at the two with wide, pleading eyes. "But I-"

"Do not worry, Naruto. This will not interfere with your training in any way."

"And it will definitely help you with women in the long run," Ayame tossed her favorite customer a wink. "No girl likes a slob, after all."

"But that's-"

"Ayame is quite right. If you want to impress a woman, then you need to have good table manners."

"Uh huh."

Naruto looked at the two of them in despair. "Are either of you listening to me!"

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked it.<strong>

**Please review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everyone. Sorry for the long wait. Over five months since my last update… I can't really say anything that wouldn't just be an excuse.**

**To try and make up for it, I'm posting this and chapter 5 simultaneously. I hope you enjoy them.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>As the moon shined down on the village and most of the civilians had gone to sleep, Naruto, Ayame and Haku stayed within the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, planning to start attempting to improve the blonds' habits. Upon hearing the about their intentions from his daughter, Teuchi had left her and the ice user to it.<p>

Ayame stood behind the counter, her hands on her hips as she looked down at the boy who was almost like a little brother to her, who was seated on an extra stool that had been placed against a wall. "Alright, Naruto, let's get started. Lesson 1-" She said, holding up one finger. "Table manners."

Naruto groaned, propping both his arms up on the table and letting his head fall into his hands. "Do I really have to? I was getting along just fine before." He said, already having second thoughts as Ayame walked into the kitchen.

Haku shook his head at the blond. It was a very good thing his master wasn't the one trying to teach him, otherwise the Rinnegan bearer might find out why the sword wielding jonin's blade is called the Kubikiribocho (Decapitating Carving Knife). Not that Zabuza _would_ try to teach someone manners. "Haven't we already discussed this? You said you would be willing to give it a try."

"Yeah, but I don't see how eating fits in to that. I can see that pissing off a village leader could cause trouble, but this isn't going to help."

Haku sighed. "While that's true, this won't really help you as a leader, it would still be beneficial to learn this. As Ayame said, no woman likes a slob. If you did manage to convince Sakura to go on a date with you, your eating habits could drive her away."

Naruto lifted his head out of his hands and turned his head to look at the ice user. "What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with the way I eat."

"I beg to differ." Haku replied with an expression of distaste. "It's a little disturbing for some to see you shovel down bowls of ramen in seconds and move to the next without skipping a beat and you have a tendency to talk with your mouth full when someone says or does anything that surprises you, which no one wants to see. That alone is proof enough. At least you somehow manage not to get the broth over your mouth, which is a little impressive with how quickly you suck up the noodles."

"He's right, you know," Ayame said as she walked back towards the pair holding a bowl of steaming ramen in her hands. The whiskered blonds' eyes tracked the bowl as it was set in front of him like a predator tracks its prey. One sniff and Naruto recognized it as Miso Ramen, one of his favorites next to Chicken, Beef, Shrimp, Tonkotsu, Pork...

... Ok, so maybe Naruto didn't actually HAVE a favorite when it came to the noodle dish. They were all his favorites, and that was just fine with him.

With the bowl now in front of him, steam wafting up and filling the air with its heady scent, Naruto's mouth began to water. Sitting next to him, Haku simply quirked a brow at the elated yet longing look that covered the Rinnegan bearer's features as he stared into the bowl. Disgust crossed the androgynous teen's features as a line of drool ran out of the blonds' mouth.

Unable to resist the scent currently driving him crazy any longer, Naruto's hands reached out to scoot the bowl closer to him so he could feast upon the divine bowl of food. Truly only the gods themselves could have possibly come up with a dish as incredible as ramen. Closer and closer his hands inched, his fingers twitching in anticipation as he made to grab the bowl -

"Ouch!"

- Only to get his hand smacked with a ladle the moment he reached the bowl by Ayame.

"Not so fast," she told him, holding her ladle like it was some kind of weapon and shaking it back and forth threateningly. Naruto sniffled a bit as he rubbed his now soar knuckles, small tears coming out of his eyes as he looked at his older sister figure. "Don't give me that look," Ayame said in response to his puppy dog eyes. "It's not going to work on me, you should just be grateful that we've decided you learning how to use proper table manners was a good enough cause to let you use ramen to practice with."

Once more, Naruto's face lit up. While he still didn't see much of a point in learning how to eat properly, if he got ramen out of the deal than he would be willing to spend hours learning the ins and outs of table manners. This was definitely his kind of studying.

"But..." Ayame began again, and this time a feeling of intense foreboding fell over the blond, casting a chill over the normally warm and comfortable in. The air felt cold, colder even hen when he had been surrounded by Haku's ice mirrors. Darkness seemed to engulf the area as the girl gave him a glacial cold smile that when combined with the chips of ice that had taken the place of her eyes presented a truly horrifying sight. It was during this moment that Naruto found true terror.

Zabuza who?

"If I even think that you're screwing up on purpose to take advantage of our hospitality, I'm going to charge you double for every bowl you eat tonight. Understand?" Obvious horror spread across the blonds' features at the waitress's threat. He may have been willing to pay any price for the divine dish he coveted so, but he was well aware how deeply this would put him in debt to the Ichiraku's. Meaning he'd have to go without the meal until he managed to repay them.

Not to mention that his precious frog wallet, which he affectionately called 'Gama' would once again be completely empty for quite some time… He could see it in his mind's eye, lying on the ground completely flat, so light that even a slight breeze would blow it away.

He nodded frantically and instantly, the cold, ominous aura vanished completely, replaced by the shops normal comforting atmosphere as the darkness receded and the ramen chef smiled brightly. "Wonderful. Now let's get started."

Haku closed his eyes and began to explain. "First should be obvious, don't talk with your mouth full. When you do so, your speech is muffled, people can see the food in your mouth, and there's a chance that flecks of food will come out of your mouth. None of which is particularly appealing, especially when one is trying to eat. Swallow first before speaking."

Thinking about it, Naruto had to agree that he didn't like the sound of any of that. "Ok. That's not so hard."

"Second is posture. Don't slouch when you're eating." Haku said before pointing to the wall Naruto was against. "Sit up with your back straight against the wall." Naruto did so. "Good. Now, try to stay like that and eat more slowly. Your stomach and your wallet will probably thank you, and remember not to talk with your mouth full…"

* * *

><p>An hour later, Naruto swallowed a mouthful of ramen. The ice user seated next to him nodded in approval. "Much better, and you didn't open you mouth when we surprised you." Although there was one time when he choked slightly…<p>

Naruto turned to him, smiling as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I thought that if Ayame and the old man were offering free ramen, I should at least do my best to get this." Though that was part of it, he neglected to mention that he was also afraid for his wallet. He was aware how much he spent on ramen; he did _not_ want to pay double.

"Yeah… but…" Ayame said slowly, turning to look at the sink. In it were 25 dirty bowls that once held ramen. The only reason there weren't more empty bowls was because he had to stop for their instructions. With a sigh, she turned back to Naruto, raising a hand to her face as she calculated the amount of money they lost in this endeavor and would stand to lose during future lessons…

She did not like the answer.

Still, if it was for her younger-brother figure, she'd to it. Besides, if Naruto still ate like that, they'd make the money back in due time. "Sorry Naruto, but for now, lesson's over."

"That's all right. I made good progress, right?" Naruto asked.

Haku nodded before turning to the waitress sympathetically, aware of how much this was going to cost them. "Are you sure you don't want us to pay? Not even for half of that?"

Ayame gave him a grateful look as she answered. "It's all right. Trust me, Naruto will make up for it in the future."

Naruto grinned and said energetically, "You better believe it. I'll stop by sometime soon and eat until I can't stomach another mouth full." Knowing how much eating there affected his own wallet; he knew they'd lost a good amount of money tonight. He was kind of on the stingy side, but the old man and the waitress were like family and he refused to leave them in the red because they wanted to be nice to him.

That had happened too much back when he was staying at the orphanage…

"Glad to hear it. Just what I expect from our number one customer."

"I see. Well, I think it's time we get going. We do have more training tomorrow." Haku smiled while closing his eyes and tilting his head slightly, "Thank you for your hospitality."

Ayame blushed. "D-don't mention it. I mean, he's like family to us."

"I can see that. He's lucky to have met people like you." Haku replied, causing her blush to deepen as she turned her head away as she raised a hand to her cheek and chuckled bashfully.

Naruto blinked before giving to his older sister figure a look of curiosity. He'd never seen Ayame act that way before. After watching her for a few more minutes as she stared dreamily at the ice user, hands on her cheeks and a blush staining her face, he shrugged it off as some kind of girl thing. From what he had seen so far from Sakura, Hinata, and Ino, girls were just weird like that.

With nothing left to do here, Naruto made his goodbyes to Haku and Ayame, and then left the stand for his apartment. He would need a good nights rest. After all, he thought with a shiver, he would be training with Zabuza tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Naruto stood back to back with one of his shadow clones, their Rinnegan eyes blazing beneath their sunglasses as they separated, leaping in different directions as a wave of senbon came down upon them.<p>

As one of the Narutos scanned the trees surrounding the clearing, he spied a humanoid mass of chakra hiding behind the leaves before the person threw another group of senbon at the other Naruto.

The targeted blond, seeing what his doppelganger was seeing, quickly jumped to the side just in the nick of time to avoid the needles.

The two blonds continued to dodge and weave around the senbon, using the legendary dojutsu's ability to combine their fields of vision and watch both attackers as Zabuza watched from a nearby treetop and Kakashi leaned against another, reading his book and giggling perversely every once in a while, his sole visible eye wandering from its pages to the battle on occasion.

Sasuke was off on his own, practicing his taijutsu katas. From what Kakashi saw, he didn't really need supervision for this, so he had decided to take this moment and observe his other students' training.

After they'd finished their water walking exercises, the copy ninja had made a suggestion regarding their training. Knowing what Haku was teaching Sakura, he proposed that she use the blond as target practice. Naruto had reacted as one would expect, until Kakashi explained his reasoning. The idea was for the Jinchuriki to use one clone with the Rinnegan active to keep an eye on both Haku and Sakura as they threw senbon at him, this would help Sakura by giving her a moving target, though her throwing skills were decent enough to hit a stationary target it needed a lot of work, and it would help Naruto adjust to the Rinnegan's unusual ability to link his and his clones' fields of vision. It was fortunate that he discovered the strange connection the Rinnegan made wasn't strong enough to force his clones to activate their Rinnegan when he did his, or else it would be impossible for him to do this and have other clones read at the same time.

The real Naruto leapt into the air as both his opponents launched senbon at him before twisting his body in mid air, spinning so he was perpendicular to the ground and bending his body, narrowly dodging another cluster of needles before landing in a crouch with one hand on the ground and searching, having lost track of one of them. He had a few senbon stuck in his body and had needed to replace his clone a few times, but his famous boundless energy meant that he still wasn't tired, even though he'd been doing this for the past two hours with only one break.

From his clone's point of view, he saw another barrage of senbon coming at his unprotected back. As he leapt to the side, his clone followed the needles back to their source, knowing the unique appearance of their chakra enough to recognize the attacker as Haku.

This was amazing! He hadn't thought much of it when he first used it, in fact, it seemed irritating how he was forced to see through his clone's eyes if they had his dojutsu active, but now he could see just how useful it really was. He wondered just how far he could take this, how many perspectives could he see through without overwhelming him?

Still, for all their good points: two visual abilities and the ability to use all the elements, he was starting to find these eyes really irritating. He had spent days trying to figure out how his eyes worked, what other abilities they kept hidden, and come up with nothing for his efforts. He knew from his battle on the bridge, what he'd been told of it anyway, that his eyes had some special powers, and… he didn't know what, but something told him that those ringed eyes held incredible power, but he was getting nowhere. It was so frustrating.

"Ok, that's enough." Zabuza called out, getting their attention before leaping out of the tree. Naruto ran towards his position as he cut the chakra flow to his eyes and his clone dismissed itself, arriving just as he landed, as Sakura and Haku jumped out of the nearby trees and touched down beside the blond while Kakashi casually walked over to join them. "Pretty good. You seem to be adjusting to those eyes quickly." He said to Naruto, who grinned in response, before turning to Sakura. "And those senbon seem to be a good fit for you. I can definitely see you doing some damage if you poisoned them." Sakura smiled, this being the first time he complimented her since finding out she was a natural at chakra control. "I have to admit Kakashi had a good idea here, though I don't want you to become reliant on those eyes."

Naruto's expression showed excitement as he asked, "Does that mean you're going to teach me that silent killing trick?"

Upon hearing the blonds' words about the technique he practically owned due to how good he was at it, Zabuza's right eye began to gain a violent twitch. "It's not a trick you damn brat!" he shouted, air blowing from his lungs in such force that Naruto's hair was buffeted as if caught in a stiff breeze. "It's an incredibly useful technique in which one must learn to remain completely silent at all times in order to sneak up on and assassinate their opponent before they even realize you're there! It takes a lot time, sweat, and blood to become even semi-proficient with it!" Realizing that he was beginning to get a bit angry, and that he had begun releasing killing intent due to how the two genin were shaking, Zabuza calmed down and coughed into his hand.

"Anyways, Silent killing wouldn't suit your style," he continued, speaking as if his outburst had never happened. "From what I saw of your battle, both with me and with Haku on the bridge, you're an assault type. You prefer getting in close and fighting your enemies head on, am I right? You may have the capacity to learn my jutsu, though it will take you years to do so, but it would be pointless since you'd never use it."

Naruto crossed his arms and turned his head away in a childish gesture. "I would so use it."

Zabuza tilted his head to the side. "Oh yeah, when?" Naruto opened his mouth. "Besides the first strike."

The blond crossed his arms, his face scrunching up as he thought about it. Were it not for his glasses, his expression would make him resemble a fox. He hummed as he carefully considered the answer, knowing lying would earn him a harsher training session and failing to give a satisfactory answer meant Zabuza wouldn't teach him the technique. "Well, if I'm fighting someone I can't beat the way I usually fight, I guess."

Zabuza glared slightly. "So you'd only use it as a last resort?"

Naruto met his glare with his own defiant one. "Yeah, but I'd still use it!"

"Bah! Why should I bother to teach it to you if you're only going to use it when all else fails? You just want to learn it because you want to learn anything you think is awe-inspiring."

Seeing Naruto was obviously about to continue the argument, Kakashi fixed his gaze on his student and spoke up. "Naruto, Zabuza's right." He gave the Sharingan wielder a shocked look. "Silent Killing is not meant to be used that way. Even if it was, as Zabuza said, it takes many years to get it right. Do you really want to spend that much time on a technique you'll almost never use when it could be better spent learning jutsu or something you'll actually make use of?"

The Rinnegan bearer calmed down, seeing his sensei's point. Looking slightly disappointed, he turned to the other jonin. "Well, are you at least going to teach me some stealth tricks?"

Zabuza scoffed. "Do you need to ask? Stealth is an integral part of being a ninja. And stop calling them tricks." He then turned to Kakashi, who stood off to the side reading his book. "Hey, is it alright to leave your student unsupervised?"

The copy ninja shrugged without looking up from his book. "Eh, he usually spends most of his free time training anyway. He's practicing katas and he's pretty much got them down, he doesn't need me looming over him at the moment." He said, casually flipping a page. "In a while, I'll spar with him for a while using the taijutsu style of an acquaintance of mine. Help him adjust to facing different combat styles." Actually, the man was one of his best remaining friends… but he'd never admit that to anyone.

Zabuza nodded before turning to Haku. "That reminds me, what do you plan to do with the girl for the rest of the day?"

"Well, I had intended to get started on her physical conditioning today." Sakura took on a slightly apprehensive look at that. "And afterwards, I'll let her cool down by showing her some herbs I found growing just outside the village. I thought I might test her knowledge of plants and their uses, based on what she told me, she's a quick study."

"Oh, you mean like that time we met in the forest?" Naruto asked.

"Exactly."

"Huh? What are you two talking about?" Sakura raised a brow. Kakashi, also curious, raised his eyes out of his book.

"That's right. We never told you, did we? Haku and I first met when he was looking for herbs to help Zabuza-sensei. I'd passed out from training and he woke me up." Naruto explained with a grin before turning to Haku. "I didn't know before then that plants could be used for medicine. I wonder if any of the plants I keep have any healing properties."

Sakura blinked and stared at Naruto. "… Since when do you know the definition of the word 'properties' or how to use it correctly?"

"Well, my clones have read pretty far into the dictionary Kakashi-sensei gave me, though I'll have to have them go over it a few more times before I really remem-… Hey! I was never that dumb!"

The pink haired girl smirked. "'Catra'." The Jinchuriki blushed and turned his face away from them with a slight pout, seeing that he'd lost that argument. "Wait, you grow plants? Huh, I didn't know you had a hobby like that."

"There's a lot you don't know about me Sakura." Naruto said with a slight smirk, although it didn't reach his eyes, revealing it to be fake. His last statement reminded him that neither of his teammates knew of his Jinchuriki status… and he wasn't looking forward to them inevitably finding out. Since the day they officially became a team, he had thought about the day his biggest secret was revealed to them, and how they'd react. The thought of them looking at him the same way the villagers did… he resisted the urge to cringe and decided to change the subject. "Have you seen the local flower shop?" He asked Haku.

Haku shook his head and Sakura spoke up. "Oh yeah, Yamanaka Flowers. It's run by Ino-pig's family. My mom has bought some carnations there."

Haku gave her an inquisitive look. "Ino… pig?"

"A girl who graduated with us at the academy. She's kind of her rival; they've got the same stupid thing for Sasuke." Naruto clarified quietly, but unfortunately not quietly enough.

"What was that?" Sakura growled, taking a step toward him threateningly.

Haku subtly shook his head while giving Naruto a look warning him not to continue, which the genin missed. The blond shrugged. "I mean, I don't see why you guys like him so much. Sure, he was the top of our class and he comes from some great and powerful clan." He said with sarcastic undertones at the end. Haku sighed and face-palmed. "But he's such a jerk. The guy looks down on everyone and he just broods to himself all the time. If you ask me, he seems kind of emo. And you guys and the rest of his fan club keep chasing him around all the time and he never even gives you the time of day. It seems pretty dumb that you keep chasing him when it's clear he wants nothing to do with you guys." He said, not realizing that he was basically the pot calling the kettle black.

Sakura's anger gradually grew as the blond continued listing things wrong with the object of her affections, her head falling forward, hiding her eyes behind shadows as she raised a trembling fist. Naruto continued, completely unaware of Sakura's flaring temper until he mentioned how foolish continuing to pursue Sasuke was, at which point she lunged at the blond. "NARUTO!"

The Rinnegan bearer finally took notice, far too late, of his teammate's growing ire. His eyes shot open as he saw her charge at him, her fist pulled back in preparation to strike him with all her might, her eyes literally burning with rage. Terror consumed him as he recalled the other times he'd managed to anger her this much.

Thanks to his recent training, he was able to dodge her first strike, barely. He leapt to the side as the pink haired kunoichi brought her fist down. He immediately ran when her fist, filled with pure, annoyed feminine fury, dug into the ground several inches and cracks spread around it. Not wasting a moment, she quickly began pursuing the blond.

"Sa- Sakura! I get it, you're mad! Please calm down!" Naruto yelled at the irate kunoichi as he dodged another blow. "Come on! It was a mistake! I didn't mean it!"

"Shut up and take your punishment like a man!" Sakura yelled as she closed in on him.

Haku sweat-dropped while Zabuza let out a laugh at the spectacle. Kakashi simply glanced up from his book for a moment before returning to it, having seen this type of situation multiple times before from those two.

"Wow, so I guess pinky has some fight in her after all." The masked jonin commented.

"Yes… Sakura has quite the temper, and Naruto tends to wind up on the receiving end of it most of the time." Kakashi answered.

"I can see that." Zabuza said, evaluating the damage her attacks caused. The observers wished the blond luck, knowing enough not to try to get between an enraged female and her target.

Over the course of the next few minutes, the training ground became littered with spider web cracks, both on the ground and the trees, some of which had chunks of the sides missing as Naruto struggled to avoid Sakura's attacks.

Finally, the blond, with his back up against a tree, waved his arms in front of him as Sakura's fist neared his head. With an anger filled cry, she struck him on the upper left side of his head, sending Naruto flying to the ground hard enough to leave a small groove in the dirt. He laid there on the ground, a large lump growing from his head where he had been struck. Zabuza chuckled and shook his head as Haku helped the blond up before his brow furrowed. "Wait, you said 'Yamanaka'… the Yamanaka clan runs the place?"

Naruto rubbed the lump on his head as he looked at the former mist ninja. "Yeah, why? Have you heard of them?"

"Are you kidding? They're a major clan of your village. They specialize in jutsu related to the mind and are known to be experts in intelligence gathering an espionage."

This was obviously news to the genin. Naruto, eyes wide, asked, "How'd you know that?"

Zabuza crossed his arms. "I'm not a former ANBU for nothing, kid. Back when I was still a ninja of Kiri, I made a point of gathering what scarce information I could on the major clans in rival nations."

Haku gained a thoughtful look. "If the shop is run by a clan of ninja… Hey, Kakashi…" The Sharingan wielder had asked earlier that Haku not use formalities and call him by name. Said jonin turned his gaze on the ice user, who took that as a cue to continue. "Do you know if this flower shop sells poisonous plants or medicinal herbs?"

Kakashi's gaze turned skyward as he brought his hand to his chin and thought. "I don't typically use either and I only have a passing knowledge on that subject, so I can't tell you how extensive their stores are, but I believe so, yes."

Haku nodded and turned to the blond genin. "Naruto, think you could show it to me? I don't think we passed it during the tour you three gave us."

Naruto grinned. "No problem. I was planning on going there soon anyway."

Haku nodded. "Thanks, I look forward to it. Even if they don't sell what I'm looking for, it could be a nice hobby." He said before turning. "Well, we should get going. I think we've had enough time to catch our breaths after such a light exercise. Come along, Sakura."

"Hey. Before you go, what are the first steps of water and wind manipulation?" Naruto called out.

Haku looked at him out of the corner of his eye as he and Zabuza raised a (non-existent in the masked ninja's case) eyebrow and Kakashi glanced at him. "Huh? Why do you ask? Didn't you agree it was best that you work on the basics before we moved on?" the demon of the mist asked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, but I figured that if it was something I can do on my own, you know, at home if I'm up to it after Zabuza-sensei's training or after a mission. I've been doing some chakra control exercises at home and I thought, since I have two elements to learn, it might be a good idea to get a head start while we're still working on my taijutsu."

Zabuza nodded, giving the blond a look of approval. "Huh. Good idea, brat. Are you actually starting to think ahead?" He had drilled the blond in the importance of thinking things through during their sparring matches, intent on making certain he never did anything as foolish as he had on the bridge when he walked into Haku's dome of ice mirrors after announcing his own presence, ruining the element of surprise. The blond simply chuckled with a grin in response. "Well, the water manipulation exercise isn't something you can do indoors, it requires a large body of water, but the wind chakra exercise is much more convenient."

Naruto's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? What is it?" he asked, not noticing Haku walk over and pick up a fallen leaf as Sakura watched the raven haired teen with a look of curiosity. The boy's expression became one of bewilderment as Haku handed him the leaf. "Huh?"

"You need to cut the leaf in half with your chakra. Once you can split the leaf in two without concentrating on it, you'll have mastered this step of your training." Haku explained.

The Jinchuriki raised an eyebrow. "Is that all? That sounds easy."

Haku shook his head, amusement clear on his features. He was going to enjoy their reactions to what he was about to tell them, and he knew his master would too. "Trust me; it's much more difficult than it sounds. It takes the average ninja years to complete the exercise."

Both of the genin stared at him in shock, their mouth's agape as their minds reeled with the new knowledge. "Years? How are we supposed to pull this off in time for the exams if it usually takes years?" Sakura asked.

"You aren't." Zabuza replied with a shrug, enjoying their surprised looks. After a moment, he decided to answer the question that was obviously on their minds. "You don't need to master the exercise or have the affinity to learn a jutsu of an element."

The pink haired genin looked at him curiously. "Then what's the advantage of having an affinity?"

This time, Kakashi answered. "While it is possible to learn jutsu without first mastering an element or having an affinity, without either, the jutsu will be extremely difficult and time consuming to learn. On top of that, it'll be relatively weak and ineffective and cost far more chakra than it should. It would take at least half a decade before you were able to use it at the same level that you could if you had an affinity and a full decade to master the element. Why waste that much time when you could focus on the element you have a predisposition for? Then you can use the jutsu effectively from the moment you learn it and master it in less than half the time."

The two genin absorbed this information briefly before something occurred to Sakura. "Wait, then how's Sasuke use fire jutsu? He has the lightning affinity, doesn't he?"

Kakashi shrugged. "The Uchiha all have a predisposition towards the fire element. Sasuke's primary affinity is for lightning, but he likely has a minor affinity for fire that was overpowered by his lightning affinity." His gaze fell back to his book. "Besides, we don't know when he learned his fire jutsu. He's been practicing it for who knows how long."

Naruto looked confused, tilting his head to the side as he tried to understand what he was being told. If that was the case, why were they wasting time by not skipping straight to the techniques, he really wanted to start learning the techniques like the ones he'd seen his sensei and Zabuza use in Wave. "Then why are we even bothering with the exercises? Why can't we just learn jutsu?"

"Well, first of all because the more experience you have with the element and the further along with the exercise you are, the easier it'll be to use the jutsu and the more powerful they'll be." Kakashi explained as he casually flipped a page of his book. "That aside, once you master the element, you'll be able to create your own, unique jutsu."

Naruto's expression lit up at hearing that he could make his own, original techniques after mastering his element. Beyond his Sexy Jutsu, he hadn't really considered making his own, original techniques, but now that his sensei mentioned it, he couldn't believe he'd never thought about it before. It was a totally awesome idea!

And with the Rinnegan, the possibilities were endless! Kakashi had used his Sharingan to copy a thousand techniques, but with his dojutsu, he would top that by creating a thousand techniques! And he'd use them all to finally put Sasuke in his place. Then Sakura would stop fawning over the jerk and the old man Hokage would see his power. He could see it now, the day where the old man said, 'Naruto, I never dreamed you would become so strong. You are truly the only one worthy of being my successor.' And then he'd finally receive the respect and recognition he always dreamed of.

The other individuals standing in the clearing sweat-dropped as Naruto stood there with his hands clasped together, wearing a wide grin and chuckling as he daydreamed.

Zabuza leaned over to Kakashi. "Hey. Does he do that often?"

Kakashi glanced indifferently at his chuckling student before shrugging and returning to his book. "Occasionally. He's just having a daydream; it'll pass in a minute"

After a few moments, Naruto's mind returned to the real world. He had the dignity to look embarrassed, rubbing his head and smiling sheepishly as he apologized. "Are you done?" The sword wielding jonin asked with a raised non-existent brow.

"Yeah." Naruto replied, deciding it a good idea to get back on topic to avoid further embarrassment. "Anyway, forget years, I'll have both these elements mastered by the end of this year." He said, smirking confidently as he balled his hand into a fist and punched to his open left palm.

"Good to see training under me hasn't dulled your enthusiasm." Zabuza commented, thinking to himself that he'd probably pull it off if he used his clones to accelerate his training. "And I see you were smart enough to ask while Haku was still here."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I figure it be better to ask Haku, since he actually uses the wind element. So, got any tips before I get started?"

"The only advice I can give you is to remember that when manipulating wind-natured chakra, you need to imagine splitting the chakra in two and rubbing them together, sharpen the edges of the chakra as much as you can and make it as thin as possible, then compress the two halves together." Haku replied. "The rest is a matter of experience."

"Got it. So, what can I do with the wind element exactly? Any good jutsu you can think of?"

Haku looked slightly sheepish. "Well… to be honest, I don't actually know any wind jutsu."

Both of the genin looked shocked as they turned to Zabuza, while Kakashi gave him an impassive glance. The sword wielding jonin shrugged. "What? I'm not exactly well versed in wind jutsu and we didn't have access to any village's library. Where was he supposed to learn them from? I knew enough to help him get a handle on manipulating wind chakra for his Ice Style, but that's it." He said before supping his chin in thought. '_Although… I may want to look into that, and not just for Haku. Lightning's one of my biggest weaknesses right now and the wind element would help even the odds against a skilled lightning user… at the very least, I should learn wind chakra flow._' He thought to himself. Given that it wasn't his affinity and he'd waited so long, it would take at least half a year before he was able to pull that off, but it could be useful some day.

Naruto turned to his sensei. Certainly the man who had copied 1000 jutsu knew some good wind jutsu. "Kakashi-sensei…" The Rinnegan bearer trailed off.

Already knowing what his student wanted to ask, Sharingan wielder shook his head. "Sorry, I'm afraid I don't really know that many wind jutsu either. The wind element is quite rare outside of the Land of Wind, and a lot of the wind techniques I've seen don't require hand signs, so I couldn't copy them." The copy ninja's gaze rose to the sky. "My skills with the wind element are pretty negligible, but I did learn one good jutsu over the years."

Naruto's shoulders slumped. "Just one?"

Kakashi nodded. "Afraid so, but I know a guy who's quite skilled with in the wind element who might be able to help you. And you could always head to the library and pick out some jutsu scrolls, right?"

"Yeah." Naruto replied with another sigh. "Well, what can you tell me? Can you give me some examples of what kind of techniques are out there?"

"Wind is a very versatile element. Depending on how you use it, it can either create powerful blunt force attacks or precision attacks that deal cutting and slashing damage. There are also various ways you can manipulate air currents." Kakashi explained.

"Could I create tornadoes? Or maybe make walls of wind to block attacks?" Naruto asked, his enthusiasm returning.

"Depends. If you mean full sized tornadoes, those would be S-class, or in some cases, forbidden jutsu." Zabuza replied.

As the four continued talking about elements, Sakura sighed. Hearing all this reminded her of what Haku had said to her on the second day of their taijutsu training. That she was the only one on the team who did the bare minimum of what her teachers demanded of her, aside from bookwork. The young kunoichi thought back to the rest of their conversation. She still hadn't found it; a reason to fight that exists in the present. Though she had to wonder, how would her father feel about how she turned out? Would he be proud of her? Or would he worry or even be disappointed because of her lack of effort? She looked up as she heard Zabuza end the conversation. "Ok, we're burning daylight, here. Haku, get back to training the girl." He said before his gaze fell to Naruto. "And I've got something special in mind for you today, brat. Come on." With that, he began to lead her away as Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke after wishing his students luck.

After saying goodbye to his sensei and Sakura, the blond took off after the demon of the mist. "So, what is it you have in mind, Zabuza-sensei?"

The demon of the mist looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "First of all, stop calling me sensei. I'm only helping you brats until the exams begin. Anyway, I've been thinking about your Shadow Clone Jutsu. Kakashi has a point about the strain it causes, but it's a waste not to take advantage of your ability to produce clones in mass numbers. Kakashi agreed it'd be best provided we keep them in small numbers, for now."

Naruto's stopped walking as his eyes lit up. "You mean you're going to let me use my clones to train hundreds of times faster?" He'd already secretly been using his clones to speed up his chakra control training outside of their sessions. He was dying to push it to the limit and see just how fast he could progress with them.

"I said 'small numbers', brat. I was thinking more like thirty. You should be able to handle that well enough."

Naruto jumped into the air. "All right! I'll be the strongest ninja who ever lived in no time! I-"

"Quiet! Would it kill you to learn some restraint?" Zabuza questioned, causing the blond to immediately stop. "That's something else we'll have to work on." He doubted he'd be able to completely curb the blonds' exuberance, but he hoped he'd at least be able to get the brat to quiet down. He was showing some progress in reining in his brashness, though routine beatings tended to do wonders for that.

A silence fell over the jonin and his temporary student. As they walked, the blonds' gaze fell to the ground and became contemplative. After a few moments, his head rose as he began to voice a question that he'd been thinking about since they're return. "Hey, Zabuza."

"Hm?" The former mist ninja turned his head to look at the blond.

"I've been wondering… what could I have done differently back at the bridge in Wave?" Zabuza came to a halt at hearing this and the young Uzumaki followed suit.

Turning around, the masked ninja folded his arms and tilted his head to the side. "Oh?" he raised a non-existent brow in interest. "And what brought this on?"

"Well…" Naruto began. "I've been thinking about how that fight went down…" Remembering how close Haku and Zabuza had also come to death, Naruto quickly raised his hands defensively. "I mean, not that I'm upset with how things turned out! But…" His gaze fell back to the ground as he ran through that battle in his mind again. Having Zabuza and Haku around served as a constant reminder of that day, of the mistakes he'd made. "Back there at the bridge… I tried to help, but I just wound up making everything worse. I walked right into an obvious deathtrap… and…" This was what weighed heaviest on his mind. His hand clenched as this thought came to the surface. "I nearly got myself and Sasuke killed. I… I can't let that happen again. If someone got killed… because of a mistake I made…" His fist tightened at his side to the point it trembled. He was willing to do just about anything to grow so that he never had to experience that again. To have a comrade and, though he wouldn't admit it out loud, a friend, die before him, especially not when it was his fault. He had acted reluctant to listen to Zabuza at first, but that had been because he was a bit frustrated by Kakashi dividing them up and by the demon of the mist's dressing down of his skills. He hadn't wanted to go to the library at first because he had thought it would be time better spent training, and admitted he had been wrong about that.

After a few moments of silence, Zabuza closed his eyes. "Well, it's good to know that you acknowledge your mistakes and are trying to grow from them." He began. "I hope you realize it's unrealistic to think that, no matter how much you grow, that you'll be able to save everyone." Seeing Naruto look up at him, he continued. "To do that, you'd have to be perfect. And no matter how many fools out there seek it or make that claim, no one can be perfect. You won't always be able to protect everyone you want to, and no matter how much you grow, you will make mistakes."

"… Yeah, I know." Naruto finally replied, having thought about this for a long time, before his eyes hardened in determination behind his sunglasses. "But that's not going to stop me from doing everything I can to protect everyone precious to me."

"And what about the rest of the village?" Zabuza inquired, causing the Rinnegan bearer's eyes to widen in shock. "I've seen how they treat you, brat. Would you protect them with the same commitment? I've seen looks like that before, and there's no chance in hell that's recent. Will you be able to defend those who scorned you for so long with the same zeal?"

"…" The blond closed his eyes and was silent for a moment under the jonin's scrutinizing gaze for a moment before looking up. "No matter how the village has treated me, there are people who have been kind to me, who are precious to me. And besides-" He grinned and gripped his headband with his thumb and index finger. "I'm a ninja of the leaf, aren't I? And I'm the one who's going to be Hokage. I'll protect them, because Konoha is my home. And someday, I'll make them change their views of me and acknowledge me for who I am!" Naruto's clenched his hand into a fist in front of him. "Because that's my dream and I never back down!"

A few seconds passed before Zabuza smirked behind the bandages the formed his mask. "Heh… well said, kid." He looked at the blond and saw the image of someone from his past. Someone who faced the same adversity, with the same dream, who'd managed to make it come true in the end, before everything suddenly went downhill years later. He tilted his head. "To get back to your original question… I'm not going to answer that. Rather, I'll ask you a similar question. Knowing what you do now, what would you do differently?"

Naruto blinked before his brow furrowed in concentration, his hand going to the back of his head as he thought back to everything he'd considered when asking himself that same question. "Well… first of all, I wouldn't have come out in the open. Before you noticed me, I would have set up my shadow clones around the bridge… and when Haku went outside the mirrors, they could have all come out at once. That could have helped Sasuke escape. Also, I should have had a shadow clone draw attention to itself, instead of coming out and announcing my presence."

"Hn." Zabuza made a sound of approval. "Good. You're improving. Listen up, I'm about to give you some important advice." Seeing the blond listening intently, he continued. "Firstly, learn to plan ahead. Being able to think on your feet and make up strategies in the heat of battle is vital, but I shouldn't have to explain to you what can happen if you rush in without thinking." Naruto nodded. "And second, while you were trapped in the mirrors, I'm guessing you got frustrated because you couldn't figure out the secret of Haku's technique and kept throwing your shadow clones at the mirrors while Sasuke was able to come up with a plan, am I right?"

Naruto winced before looking down, scratching his cheek in embarrassment. "Well…" he mumbled.

Zabuza's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "What was that? Did you just say 'I want a no-holds-barred sparring session, Zabuza'?"

Naruto jerked his head back up in terror. "No!"

"Then answer the question!"

"… Yeah, you're right." Naruto finally said in resignation.

Zabuza nodded. "That's what I thought. My second piece of advice: learn to stay calm and analyze situations with a level head. That'll be tough for someone as hotheaded as you, but it's another essential skill for a ninja. Got that?" When Naruto nodded, Zabuza turned and gestured for the blond to follow. "Good, now come on. We've got work to do."

* * *

><p>The two soon came to a riverside clearing. The masked jonin came to a stop in the center of the clearing and turned to face his temporary student. "Alright kid, do your thing. And make sure the clones have enough chakra to replace themselves a few times."<p>

"Got it." Naruto made a familiar, cross shaped hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A cloud of smoke burst into existence and when it cleared, thirty Naruto clones stood behind the real blond.

"Ok, listen up." The swordsmen stated to the group. "I want twenty of you to start gathering leaves. Half of those that do are to hold them to their bodies with chakra while standing on the water to improve your control. At first, I'd planned to leave it at that, but you raised a good point about the elements. Besides, the Uchiha brat's already got a handle on one of his elements and the girl has near perfect control, so you've got the most work ahead of you. Your remaining clones will divide into two groups of ten, focusing on either wind or water." He ordered before making the tiger hand sign, causing two masses of water to rise out of the river, forming clones. "My clones will oversee your efforts, now hop to it."

The clones quickly divided into their groups and dashed out of the clearing. Being the only one left, the original turned to Zabuza with a questioning look on his face. "And what am I going to do?"

A sadistic grin broke out under Zabuza's mask, setting off alarm bells in the Jinchuriki's mind. "Glad you asked, brat. Since your clones are handling chakra control and jutsu for you, you get to focus entirely on taijutsu and physical conditioning." Naruto's concern grew as Zabuza walked away. His fears were confirmed as he came back, dragging a boulder about the size of his temporary student. "You remember where Haku and the girl were using you for target practice, I hope." The blond gulped before he nodded with beads of sweat running down his face. "Good. To start, you're going to drag this boulder there and back." And the blond immediately knew that he was going to collapse the as soon as he walked through his door that night… again… if he even made it back to his home.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Sakura and Haku walked through the forest. The journey so far had been silent as Sakura was lost in thought. Over the past few days, she had been contemplating Haku's words about why she chose to be a ninja and what drove her to fight. She realized that she really didn't have anything she wanted to do with what she learned. Of course, she wanted to serve her village, but she could do that other ways. Similarly, her father would probably have been proud of her even if she picked another profession. So, what was there? She wasn't the type who strived to better herself just because either, at least not unless it involved hitting the books.<p>

Haku turned to look at her as he raised a branch out of his path. "May I ask what you're thinking of?" The pink haired girl stopped in her tracks, a shocked expression covering her features before she her gaze fell to the ground.

"I was just thinking… of what you told me earlier. You know, about my reasons for fighting and getting stronger." She replied with uncertainty. "I still haven't found anything."

The teen smiled at her. "Don't worry. Although it would be better to find motivation sooner than later, these things take time." Sakura just sighed. "Have you thought about what I said about Naruto?" Sakura's eyes returned to his face at that.

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. "I was thinking about it, but he deserved it that time."

"I'll admit, he did kind of bring it on himself back there." Haku admitted with a sigh as he turned to face her. "But you know, he may have had a point."

Sakura threw a glare at the ice user. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you going to tell me my pursuit of true love is stupid too?"

Haku raised his hands in a placating gesture. "No no, nothing like that. I mean, maybe you're going about it the wrong way." The kunoichi's expression turned to curiosity, but retained a hint of her anger. Seeing she was interested in what he had to say, he continued. "From what I've seen, you throw yourself at him constantly, and I assume it has been this way since you first developed your crush on him."

"It's not just a crush!" Sakura insisted before sighing and directing her head toward the ground. "But yeah, I've tried everything to get his attention. I've been obvious, subtle, given him gifts, and I always make sure he knows how amazing I think he is, but he's never shown the least bit of interest."

"That's why I said he may have had a point." Sakura looked up at him in confusion. "Sakura, I take it from Naruto's comment about a fanclub that you and this Ino aren't the only ones that pursue Sasuke. Has he ever responded positively to any attempts to gain his attention from any of you?"

Sakura searched through her memories for any such occurrence. It didn't take long, as that wouldn't be something she'd forget. "Well… no…"

"Now, how do you feel when Naruto asks you out, even though you've already turned him down?"

Sakura's brow furrowed. "It's annoying. He keeps bugging me over and over again even when I keep turning him down. I mean, why can't he just take a hint? I'll admit, there are times when he's not so bad…" '_And his pranks are funny as hell!_' her inner self added. Of course, she'd never say that out loud. "… But I don't think I could ever like him like that. Besides, he should be able to tell that I like Sasuke."

Haku nodded. "As I thought. Now, do you see my point?" Seeing Sakura's confused expression, he sighed and explained. "Sakura, some people don't like being fawned over, no matter how kind or flattering the praise is. Has it ever occurred to you that Sasuke might find your pursuits as annoying as you find Naruto's?"

Sakura froze, her eyes wide with horror. The thought had never occurred to her that Sasuke could find her attempts to be irritating in anyway. She had forgotten that time he called her annoying after they had been officially made a team. "But... that… I- I mean, that can't…" She stuttered as she tried to think of anything to refute Haku's statement, but found she couldn't.

"Perhaps it would be better if you toned down your attempts to win his affection a bit." Haku suggested, causing the pink haired girl to look up at him. "I don't mean stop completely, but just let him know you care, praise him when he really deserves it, not just because or over something small, and maybe you'd have a better chance."

Sakura was quiet as she thought about it for a few moments. As much as she hated to admit it, he could have a point. If Sasuke found her as annoying as Naruto, then she really would have to change tactics. After about half a minute, she finally said. "I guess I have nothing to lose." After a few moments, her eyes rose to Haku again. "I know you've been trying to improve the way Naruto acts. Why are you helping us with this?"

Haku shrugged. "I simply wish to see you function as a team more cohesively. And from what I gather, Naruto never had anyone to teach him how not to act, so I thought I might help him with it. Is that a good enough answer?" He replied and she nodded. "Alright, then come along." He said as he turned, raising the branch before him out of his way and leading her through the forest.

All was quiet as the pink haired girl was once more lost in thought, which now focused on her interactions with her teammates. Though soon, her mind wandered back to the present and she began to grow curious about where Haku was leading her.

Just as curiosity was about to get the better of her and she was going to ask again, the sound of running water reached her ears. Haku smiled as he heard the sound. "Ah, we're getting close."

Sakura found herself getting worried. The sound of violent, rushing water was growing louder as they approached. "Where exactly are we going?"

Haku turned his head just enough to look at her out of the corner of his eye. "Just be patient, Sakura. We'll be there soon."

The pink haired girl began to grow worried about what the water had to do with her training as the sound grew louder and she was sure she could hear water crashing down from a great height, signifying a waterfall.

Soon, Sakura looked on with wide eyes as they stood at the edge of a river that fed into a waterfall. The water before her white due to the rapid, turbulent flow, splashing violently against the rocks and dipping and churning in various places. "Perfect. Just as Kakashi-san said."

Sakura turned to him, fear clear in her expression. "Uh… Haku. Just what are you planning?"

Haku turned to his temporary student. " Simple. The first of those exercises I mentioned earlier. Due to the resistance of the water, swimming, especially against a current, is a good way to build up muscular endurance."

Sakura paled, staring at him with wide eyes as she pointed at the violent, churning water. "You're going to have me swim in _that_?"

Haku shook his head. "Of course not. That would be far too much." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief before he continued. "We'll be going upstream, to the area just before the water turns white." Sakura cast him a fearful look.

"That's… not much better. Can't we just go to where the water's calmer? Or maybe a pool somewhere?" She asked hopefully.

The ice user sighed. "Sakura, I know this probably seems harsh to you, but this is the best way for you to improve quickly. From what I've been told, the chunin exams will likely have several exceptional ninja participating in it. On top of that, there are no rules against killing during the combat portion and some genin, either on their own or under orders from their village, take it as an opportunity not only for advancement, but to eliminate outstanding ninja of rival villages. There is a possibility that you'll find yourselves in a situation where all three of your skills are needed to escape with your lives or you may find yourself on your own. You need to advance as fast as you can, for your own good as well as your teammates."

Sakura seemed unsure for a moment before her eyes hardened. She remembered how helpless she felt on the bridge at Wave and the instinctive horror she felt when she saw Sasuke's unmoving self, even if she had been told he was alive. She never wanted to find herself in such a situation again. She gave him a nod. "Alright… I'll do it. You said it's not going to be … here, right?" The pink haired kunoichi said, gesturing to the turbulent water.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, Sakura, now wearing a one piece bathing suit Haku had brought, swam, frantically, attempting to keep from slipping into the rapids just a few feet behind her position in the water.<p>

Her lungs were burning as she struggled to keep them supplied with sufficient oxygen, a task made far more difficult by the water that constantly obstructed her breathing, and her arms and legs were beginning to feel like lead. The only reason she hadn't already given in to her exhaustion was her fear of being pulled into the blue and white maelstrom behind her. The kunoichi didn't even want to think about what would happen if she got sucked into the torrent, the image of her body being dashed against one of the many, jagged rocks briefly flashing in her mind, causing her to redouble her efforts.

"That's good, Sakura. Keep it up." Haku called out to her from a rock near her position.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? HELP ME!" Sakura screamed as she struggled against the current. '_What was I thinking? This is crazy!_'

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, she lay on the side of the river, her chest rising and falling as she breathed heavily, her eyes staring off into the sky. Her body felt as if it was on fire, except her limbs, which were completely numb. She doubted she would be able to stand up without shaking uncontrollably for at least an hour.<p>

Haku smiled down at her. "See. Was that really so hard?"

Sakura glared at him. "If it's so easy, why don't you do it?" She grumbled. '_Cha! Let's see if you're so calm after I throw you in there!_' her inner self yelled.

He blinked and raised a brow. "I did. Zabuza made me do this when I was eight years old." The pink haired girl stared at him in astonishment. "Now, as soon as you've rested up, we'll move on to the next exercise."

Sakura paled. "You mean there's more?" she whimpered.

* * *

><p>Within one of the many training grounds that surrounded the outskirts of Konohagakure no Saito, one Sakura Haruno was going through hell.<p>

Well, she called it hell, Haku called it training. The training she had been given sounded simple enough, she was balancing two buckets of water attached to a bamboo pole that was being carried over her shoulder, and in order to complete this level of training she needed to run through the obstacle course that Haku had created for her without spilling a drop.

Sakura shivered, nothing good ever came from spilling water. Nothing.

The kunoichi was panting, sweat running down her face as she ducked under a swinging log, the hunk of wood passing so close to her head she could feel the faint rush of the wind as it passed overhead. Fortunately, it was the last one, but she was allowed no time to breathe as she cleared this obstacle and moved towards the next one.

'_Don't think about it Sakura, just keep moving._' Nothing good would come of thinking of the consequences that would befall her if she spilled a drop of water… if she stopped for a moment… if she fell… she shook her head and moved onward.

Springing a few feet into the air, she landed on the first of a long series of platforms, each about the size of her heel, all sticking out of the ground at different, random heights ranging from one foot (the one she just stepped on) to four feet. She only barely managed to maintain her balance as she touched down on the ball of her foot. Struggling to keep from falling over, her eyes widened in terror as she bent at the waist and the water in the bucket on her right sloshed, almost over the edge… before going back in and settling as she righted herself. The pink haired genin sighed in relief before something zipped past her face. Following the sound, fear painted her features as she saw two senbon sticking out of a platform, a reminder not to stop, and she quickly started to move again.

Leaping from one platform to another, Sakura struggled with her awkward footing, shifting her weight and footing almost constantly as she struggled to retain her balance and keep from spilling the water in either of her pales. Gods this sucked! Haku had told her that he had done this while training under Zabuza, only that the swordsmen had tried slicing into him with a kunai when he had undergone this kind of training. While Sakura was very glad she was not training under the Kiri swordsmen, VERY GLAD, she also felt very inadequate when hearing how hard Haku had it. How pathetic must she be if this was difficult for her? Absently, she wondered how Naruto and Sasuke would do in this. She shook off the depressing realization that they would certainly fare far better than her.

'_Don't think about it. Don't think about anything else. Just get this over with so you can go home and… Oh god, he's going to make me do things like this every other… No! Stay focused!_'

She was nearing the end of the raised platforms now, seeing this she prepared, and upon reaching the last platform jumped off. Channeling chakra through her legs to strengthen them, and more chakra to the bottom of her feet to act as a cushion so the water wouldn't slosh around, Sakura landed on the ground and bent her knees slightly to help absorb the shock of impact.

Dashing forward, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. This was the last challenge: countless lengths of ninja wire crisscrossing over each other, ranging from half way up her shin to just above her ankle in height. Just one more impediment and she could go home. She thanked all the deities she knew it was almost over, her legs felt like they were made of lead and they ached terribly. She would have long since collapsed had it not been for what would happen if she stopped or spilled the water.

She shivered again. '_Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Just get it over with._'

Seeing how much difficulty she was having, Haku decided to save testing her knowledge of fauna for tomorrow and let her go home as soon as she was done with this. He'd also decided to let her take it easy every other day, something she was extremely grateful for.

As she grew nearer, a feeling of apprehension grew within her. So many wires, so few spots where she would actually be safe… she shook her head, clearing her mind of such thoughts. She couldn't stop to try to figure out the safest way through, all she could do was trust in her luck and move forward.

Taking the first step into the wire field, she leapt into the air, seeing no area nearby with enough clear space for her to stick her foot without it getting caught. She landed on her left foot, narrowly avoiding the wires that threatened to trip her. Repeating the process, she made it halfway through, the end clear in sight… when suddenly; she felt something catch her leg. Looking down, she saw an almost invisible thread that had been hidden in the shadow of another, pulling on her leg as she fell forward.

'_Oh, COME ON!_' she wailed in her mind, struggling to maintain her balance. Stumbling forward, she spied a space before her with enough room to take a step and managed to catch herself, but the water in the right bucket, jolted by her jerky movements, splashed over the side. She watched in horror as about a handful of the clear liquid fell to the ground.

'_NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!_' The pink haired girl's eyes followed as the water hit the ground with an almost inaudible splash. The world seemed to stop dead in its tracks for her the feeling of dread increased. One heartbeat later, time resumed as barrages of senbon flew at her from four different directions.

Her scream echoed throughout the area.

* * *

><p>The pink haired genin winced as she wearily pulled a needle out from her arm, one of the last of the dozens that riddled her body mere moments ago. Seeing as the girl was unable to make it on her own after being punished for failing the exercise, Haku had helped her reach the end of the course and aided in removing the needles. Sakura hadn't said a word throughout this, the fear of pushing the needles deeper into her skin being the only thing keeping her from simply dropping to the ground.<p>

Tossing the last needle she could remove without taking anything off to the ground, before falling backwards and lying spread eagle. After a few moments of catching her breath, doing her best to ignore the pain the remaining needles caused her, she leveled a glare almost worthy of the object of her affection at the ice user. That whole ordeal had to have been the single worst experience of her life and she'd probably be screaming at Haku like she often did at Naruto were she not completely exhausted.

Haku, of course, had the sense not to say anything beyond 'let me help', seeing that the girl's anger of that ending was like an explosive tag waiting to go off.

"Y- you're as sadistic as Zabuza." Sakura accused.

Haku shook his head. "That's not true at all." He then shrugged. "As I said, I'm only doing this because it's the fastest way to make you stronger. My master would have enjoyed every moment of seeing you suffer." There was no use in trying to deny this. They both knew it was true. "You know this is for the best."

Sakura's inner self raged within her mind, screaming out obscenities and promising to make Haku experience the same hell she had, and for once they were in perfect unison, but she was far too tired to vocalize her fury, so she settled for, "Screw You!"

Haku raised a brow. "So you'd prefer I take it easier on you or train you as you told me Kakashi did prior to meeting us… and risk you not being prepared for the Chunin Exams or the next time you run afoul a missing ninja?" Sakura was silent. As much as it pained her to admit it, thinking of the events in Wave, she knew this was probably necessary. After letting her contemplate this for a few moments, he spoke up again. "Do you need any help?"

Sakura gained a slight smirk.

* * *

><p>"You know, if you had asked my master to do this, he'd probably have tossed you back in the river." Haku said as he carried her, piggy back style, through the village to her home.<p>

"Shut up and keep walking."

* * *

><p>Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha with Haku, pointing out places the teen hadn't seen yet as they went along. He and his team had just finished a few D-rank missions. Walking dogs and de-weeding a garden, not exactly a jobs befitting a ninja, but they needed to complete a certain number of missions before they could qualify for the Chunin Exams. They reported to the Hokage for their pay and went their separate ways. The blond had wandered the village for a while, debating on whether or not he should take the rest of the day off aside from some practicing his chakra control and wind manipulation at home, or if he should do some more training. However, when he ran into Haku, he decided it be a good idea to show him to Yamanaka Flowers as they had talked about earlier. He needed fertilizer for his potted plants and, even if it wasn't his style to use such things, he was curious to know if they actually sold poisonous plants and medicinal herbs.<p>

It was nice, giving a friend a tour of the village. Though he didn't want to tell Haku, or anyone for that matter, about his status as a Jinchuriki, Haku was someone who could sympathize with the way his life had gone, though he was aware that there was nothing he could compare to the tragedy that had occurred when the older boy's father had discovered his bloodline.

However, he had one distinct misgiving about the situation. To his chagrin, Haku was dressed casually. In other words, he was dressed in that pink kimono and was wearing his hair down, making it impossible to tell his true gender.

"Well, this is the place." Naruto indicated as they came upon their destination. A two story tall, traditional eastern style building with rows of potted flowers on either side of the door. To the upper right of the door was a pink sign with the name of the shop.

"So I see." Haku replied, looking at the sign briefly before turning to Naruto and seeing the blond walking into the open door and followed.

Stepping into the shop, the two looked around briefly, the sweet smell of the countless flowers reaching them as they passed through the threshold. While Naruto turned his gaze to the front counter, Haku scanned the plants, identifying many of them, though his knowledge of plants without useful properties was limited.

Sitting at the counter, Ino rested her head in her right hand, her arm propped up on the table. It was a fairly slow day and the blonde was looking decidedly bored due to the lack of customers. She enjoyed tending to and being among the flowers, but they'd all been taken care of and watching the shop could be monotonous on slow days like this.

Hearing someone enter, she perked up and looked towards the entrance and saw Naruto and someone she'd never seen before. It seemed to be a girl, one Ino had to admit was nearly as pretty as her, though something seemed to be off that she couldn't quite place. Still, it intrigued her how Naruto knew this person She raised her hand and waved at the two. "Hey, Naruto."

Naruto grinned as he ran over to the desk with Haku trailing behind, examining the many flowers. "Hey, Ino. How've things been?"

"Eh, you know how Shikamaru and Choji are. A slacker who would rather gaze at clouds more than anything that takes effort and a glutton who'd spend all day stuffing his face with snacks, I pretty much have to force them to do anything. And our jonin leader: Asuma-sensei's really laid back, so he's no help at all."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I know all about laid back senseis. Kakashi-sensei was too until the Hokage let him have it over it."

Ino raised a brow. "Really? Wish the old man would chew our sensei out." She replied before raising an eyebrow. "What's with the sunglasses?"

Naruto grinned and adjusted his shades with his right hand. "Nice huh? I think they make me look cooler. Plus, they protect my eyes from things like flash bombs." It was a decent excuse, and one that sounded a lot like him.

Ino blinked, surprised Naruto would think about the advantages the sunglasses could bring. "Hn. Smart thinking. And I have to agree, they do improve your look, though that's not really saying much." She said, chuckling at his enraged response before resting her head back on the palms of her hands. It was hard to look good in a bright orange tracksuit. Not to mention the fact that such a bright color was impractical for a shinobi. "So, what's it like being on a team with Sasuke? It must be easy with him on your side."

"Can we not talk about him?" Naruto grumbled in annoyance, not wanting to talk about his rival, especially not with the way Ino worded the question, like he was so much better than him and Sakura.

"Oh fine." Ino replied with a sigh, resting her head against the palm of her hand and averting her gaze. "I'm not surprised you don't want to talk about it." she pretended not to notice the Jinchuriki was looking at her curiously and trying not to smirk. "I mean, it's gotta be tough, being on the same team as the girl you have the crush on… and the guy she's madly in love with. I bet you're feeling like the odd man out, watching Sakura flirt with him all the time."

Naruto crossed his arms and frowned at the blonde kunoichi. "It's not like it's any different than before."

"So Forehead hasn't made any progress with Sasuke? Good to hear. Was that so hard?" Ino smirked at Naruto's response, her smirk widening when her fellow blond groaned and brought his hand to his face, realizing he'd been had. "So, what are you here for anyway? Hoping to score a date with the new girl?"

That got Haku's attention. The androgynous teen turned to Ino, a hint of amusement in his eyes while Naruto gave her a blank stare. "What?" was all the Jinchuriki could say.

Ino's smirk widened. "Oh, so you're not showing her around hoping to score?"

Naruto turned green as his mind processed what Ino was saying. "ACK! NO! I DON'T-! I-! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!"

Ino looked surprised at Naruto's horrified response before she heard muffled snickers coming from Haku, who was covering his mouth in an attempt to suppress his laughter. After a moment, he calmed down and stepped forward. "I should probably introduce myself." He said as he extended his hand to shake hers. "My name is Haku. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ino."

Ino smiled, still curious about Naruto's violent reaction to her assertion, and shook the ice user's hand. "Likewise."

Haku's smile widened. "And by the way, I'm actually a boy."

Ino blinked before her whole body jerked nearly falling out of her chair as her expression morphed into one of pure shock. "WHAT? NO WAY, ARE YOU SERIOUS?" That had to be a joke. There was no way this guy was a boy. He was prettier than her biggest rival, Sakura. Almost as pretty as her! Her reaction caused Haku to chuckle slightly.

"Yeah… I made the same mistake when I met him." Naruto grumbled before giving the clearly amused Haku a slightly annoyed look. "Oh haha, laugh it up. You think this is a riot, don't you?"

The former missing-nin turned to Naruto, still smirking. "Well, it's always amusing to see how people react when they find out I'm not what they think I am, though it does get a bit tiring with how many people make that mistake."

Ino just stared at him. Now that she knew he was a boy, she realized this must have been what she felt was off about 'her'. Scrutinizing him, she could see subtle hints of his true gender, though they were easy to miss. She blushed, noting he was rather attractive now that she knew he was a boy. "You know, you're choice of clothing really doesn't help." she pointed out.

He shrugged. "I know, but I find this comfortable."

Ino shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "So, what are you here for? Need some more fertilizer for those plants you got from us, or maybe looking for a new one?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm not looking for anything new today. And Haku came along because he was curious about this place and if you could order plants that could be used for medicine or poison."

Ino turned to Haku. "So, you're a ninja, then?"

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, he's an awesome ninja. Sasuke and I fought him together and we could barely even touch him."

Ino's eyes widened. "He's that good?" she asked in astonishment, finding it hard to believe anyone could beat her crush. "Wait you were fighting? Why?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well, he and his sensei: Zabuza were hired to kill our client, but it all turned out all right in the end."

The two began to explain the events of the Wave mission, leaving out certain details, like Naruto's Rinnegan. Ino was shocked to hear that the ice user had defeated Sasuke so handily and was curious about his bloodline. Though they had mentioned it, they hadn't said much about his ice style, besides the fact that it was powerful enough to overwhelm the two genin. She was more than a little intimidated with their description of Zabuza and a little shocked to hear that the two had joined the village, but she'd heard of missing-nin joining other villages before. Ultimately, she decided she liked Haku, despite her slight fear of his master. He was definitely a nice guy, considering he directly defied his master's wishes by going out of his way to spare his enemies.

"Wow. Fresh out of the academy and already saving a country? You guys are making the rest of us look bad." Ino shook her head with a smirk while Naruto grinned before turning to Haku. "Well, it's a little late, but welcome to the village."

"Thank you. I think I'll be happy here." Haku replied as Naruto went to find some fertilizer for his potted plants.

"Naruto said you were interested in medicinal herbs and poisons right?" Ino inquired and Haku nodded. "Well, it's true; we do sell things like that. But they're kind of expensive. And though we can special order some rare ones, for the best stuff, you'll need access to the village's supply… or grow your own." She added as an afterthought. "Do you have anywhere to keep them?"

"Not really. Once my probation's over, I hope to do missions until I can afford someplace to keep them, but that's far off. I just wanted to know in advance and maybe purchase a few to produce salves and provide practice for Sakura."

Ino tilted her head to the side. "For Sakura? Are you helping them out in their training?"

Haku nodded. "Yes. It's the least my master and I can do after what happened in Land of Waves."

Before Ino could respond, Naruto returned with a bag of compost. "Ok, this should be enough to last a while."

Ino took the bag as she glanced at the Ice user. "Do you know what you're looking for?" Haku nodded and handed her a list. She took it but rung up the bag before looking at it.

"That'll be 150 Ryo." Ino told Naruto, holding out her hand as Naruto pulled out his frog wallet, handing her the amount. Once she finished with his purchase, she handed the blond the bag, change and recite before reading over the list Haku provided her. "… I have some of that. Hang on." She said as she stood up and walked into the back, taking a few plants before returning to the front of the shop and getting some chrysanthemums before returning to the desk and returning to ring up Haku's purchase. Though he couldn't be sold anything poisonous until his probation was over, there was no such restrictions on medicinal herbs.

"So, you and your master are helping them out, huh? That's a definite edge over the other teams. You guys up to anything special?" She asked, fishing for information.

Haku chuckled. "I'm fairly certain Sakura hates me right now. I've been pushing her really hard, but it's how I was taught. My master was harder on me and harsh methods tend to bring faster and better results."

Ino waved her hand in a dismissive fashion. "Ah, I'm sure your exaggerating. If your sensei's anything like mine, it wouldn't surprise me if forehead wasn't used to intense training, but what could you possibly put her through that would be that bad?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised. She usually collapses after our training's over."

The Yamanaka raised a brow. "That so?" her gaze turned to Naruto. "How about you? Who's focusing on you, your sensei or his?"

"His … let's just say Haku's not exaggerating when he calls his methods harsh… actually, that's probably an understatement." Naruto grumbled that last part. "What about you? Up to anything special?" He asked, changing the subject. He knew better than to give away their secrets.

"Oh, no." Ino shook her head. "Just the usual. I envy you guys a little. Like I said, my sensei hasn't been much help at all. Aside from teamwork exercises, we've pretty much been doing what we were before we graduated." She said before taking on a thoughtful expression. "But that might be because we're all using our clan's unique styles." It was true that their families were better suited to teach them their clan's arts, so she supposed it was understandable that Asuma felt it was best to leave it to them. Still, it wouldn't hurt if he helped them broaden their horizons. She turned back to the register. "All right, that's 400 ryo."

"Thank you." Haku said as he paid and accepted his purchase. "You know, I've always been interested in flowers. Perhaps you could tell me the meanings of the many flowers in your shop later."

Ino smiled, surprised to find a boy with that much interest in flowers. "Sure. Come by anytime. Who knows, maybe we'll see more of each other outside the shop too." She winked at the end. Her heart may have been set on Sasuke, but she always enjoyed a little harmless flirting/teasing.

Haku blushed, averting his gaze to the side as he raised his hand, scratching the side of his head. His expression made it clear he was unaccustomed to such advances, even harmless ones.

Then again, that was hardly surprising. He and Zabuza had traveled constantly, staying in the wilderness most of the time or in the guest quarters of whatever crime lord they happened to be working for. "Yes. That would be nice."

He then followed Naruto, who headed toward the door. The Rinnegan bearer turned his head to look at his fellow blond out of the corner of his eye. "See you later, Ino."

"See ya. Don't be a stranger."

* * *

><p>Sakura lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling as she was lost in a sea of her own thoughts. At the moment, her teammates dominated her mind.<p>

She may have agreed with Haku that her previous methods to gain Sasuke's attention weren't working, but, though she acknowledged the possibility, she still had a hard time believing she could possibly be as annoying as Naruto. However, as she continued to think about it, comparing how she acted towards Sasuke to how Naruto acted towards her, and the responses they got, she came to realize that he was probably right.

Whenever she and her competition tried to vie for the Uchiha's attention in the academy, he'd either go out of the way to avoid them or respond with cold indifference. Sure, they may have seen this as an aspect of his allure and she thought that, though more than a little hurtful, the way he acted was cool, it was also a clear sign that he didn't have any interest in their efforts to win his heart.

Comparing the way she acted towards Sasuke to the way Naruto acted towards her had led to another line of thought. Did her constant rejections hurt him as much as Sasuke's dismissal did her?

That was a sobering thought. Thinking about how they might feel also made her realize that she didn't know that much about either of her teammates. She had never cared enough to learn more about Naruto, and Sasuke kept everything to himself. She knew they were both orphans, but though she knew Naruto had always been alone, she knew little about how Sasuke lost his family. No one liked to talk about the Uchiha massacre. She wondered how much she didn't know about the raven haired boy, recalling that time when they took the bell test, when he'd told her about that time he was crying and those two times he'd alluded to someone he wanted to kill.

What she did know about Naruto gave her pause. Most of the adults in the village seemed to hate him. Looking back, with the exception of Iruka, all their senseis tended to be biased against him, even considering his annoying habits and pranks. Haku had been right days ago; pranks alone wouldn't have been enough to cause the villagers to treat him this way. But, what could a 12 year old have done to deserve such enmity? How long had he faced such prejudice?

'_And how long have I been making it worse?_' She winced at that thought, sitting up and staring into space. Like Haku had said, he was her teammate and he would risk his life to protect her. And how did she treat him in return? She constantly insulted and belittled him, doing so with greater intensity when he asked her out on a date. When she thought about it, it was actually probably worse for him. He had no family to fall back on, and, hurtful as Sasuke's rejections were, he rarely insulted her and never hit her, like she did to the blond on a regular basis. She turned to look at the picture on her nightstand. It was a group photo taken when Team Seven first formed. She was standing in front, a smile on her face while Kakashi stood in the back, a giving his eye-smile and resting his hands on his two male student's heads. Sasuke looked aloof and uncaring as always, while Naruto glared at his rival. As she stared she continued to wonder, what went on through their heads.

After a few moments, she stood up, ignoring the protests from her body which still ached from the previous days training, and walked outside her room and down her hallway. As she stepped into the main room of her family's apartment, her mother, who was standing before the sink, washing dishes, looked up and smiled.

Sakura's mother, Sayuri Haruno, was a woman in her mid-thirties with fair skin and long pink hair and green eyes matching her daughter's. She wore a red blouse with a matching skirt.

"Hey, sweetheart." Her mother greeted. "I was just thinking of checking on you. You've had me worried, you know."

"I know." Sakura replied, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "You don't need to worry so much; I'm not a little girl anymore."

The pink haired woman chuckled. "I know. But you'll always be my little girl." She said. "You hungry?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not right now."

Sayuri gave Sakura a worried glance. "You're not dieting again, are you?"

"No, I don't do that anymore."

Sayuri smiled and returned to the dishes, pulling one out of the sink and scrubbing with a rag. "How've things been with your team?"

Sakura groaned. Leaning forward and resting her head in her hands as thoughts of her new training routine filled her mind. She shuddered slightly as she recalled the aftermath of her last session with Haku. She hadn't even been able to make it home on her own. She was lucky Haku allowed her to a days rest between rigorous exercises. Honestly, how did he and Naruto survive training under Zabuza? "Hard. Kakashi-sensei used to be really easy going most of the time. Ever since we got back from the Land of Waves, he, Zabuza and Haku have been driving us harder and harder. I'm not sure if I can keep this up."

Her mother turned to look at her out of the corner of her eye. "Haku? That nice boy you were telling me about? From what you've told me, he can't be that bad."

"Don't forget who trained him." Sakura responded. "He's teaching me the same way he was taught." She said with a sigh. "I guess I can't complain. He does let me rest every other day. And at least I wasn't stuck with Zabuza…" She shivered at that thought. Zabuza managed to run even Naruto, who seemed to have boundless energy, ragged. And on the occasions when they trained together, Zabuza didn't pull any punches. She didn't even want to think about what the masked ninja would do to her.

Sayuri turned back to her daughter, giving her a daughter a warm expression. "I still can't believe how that mission turned out. Fresh out of the academy and part of a team that saved a whole country. Your father would be so proud if he could see you now."

The kunoichi slumped in her seat. "No he wouldn't… I didn't do anything. It was all Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto."

Sayuri gave the genin a supportive look. "Your father would be happy that you came back alive. I may not be a ninja, but from what he told me, even being a part of such a mission so early in your career is incredible. And you're just starting out. I'm sure you'll be an incredible kunoichi one day."

Sakura smiled at her mother's encouragement and a silence fell over the two. The pink haired girl's thoughts turned back to her team and then it hit her. Her mother may know things about her teammates that she didn't. After a few more moments, she turned in her seat and spoke. "Mom. What happened to Sasuke?"

The woman faced her again. "Hm? What do you mean? And why are you asking me?"

"Because I don't really know that much about what he's been through. I know he lost his family, but no one wanted to talk about it, so I don't really know how that happened. He seems so distant. I know losing everyone like that would hurt, but it's like there's more than that."

Sayuri frowned. There was more. Most of the children knew of the massacre, but as Sakura said, it was a dark subject most didn't want to discuss. It was rumored among the younger generation that it was one of their own who did the deed, but none of the children even suspected it was Sasuke's own older brother. With a sigh, she answered, "Don't you think that's something you should be asking him? I don't think it's my place to tell you about your teammate's past." She said before picking up another dish and scrubbing.

The young kunoichi looked disappointed before she spoke again. "Well, what about Naruto?" She was shocked when her mother suddenly stopped froze, a cold look flashing across her face before she turned to her, her expression neutral.

"What about him?" Sayuri asked.

Sakura became slightly nervous at the change in her mother's demeanor. "Well, I've noticed most people around the village glare at him when we walk by, and aside from Iruka and Mizuki-" the children were still unaware of the exact circumstances of the silver haired chunin's disappearance. "- most of the teachers seemed to have something against him."

Sayuri closed her eyes and considered how to respond. She really didn't like that her daughter was on the same team as the young Jinchuriki and wanted to warn her, but she knew better than to break the Third's law. "Don't worry about him." She said, turning to her daughter and giving her a concerned look while Sakura looked puzzled. "Look, that boy… he's dangerous, ok? I know he's a member of your team and you have to work together, but try to avoid him when you can, all right?"

Sakura's brow furrowed as she stared at her mother. "Why? I mean, how could he be dangerous? The worse he's ever done is pulled pranks across the village."

Sayuri sighed. "I wish I could say more, Sakura. I really do. Just, please, avoid associating with him as much as you can. He's more dangerous than you could possibly know." She said, turning to the dishes and glaring into the sink as she muttered. "I still can't believe Lord Hokage allowed him to become a ninja."

Sakura's expression hardened at her mother's words. Thoughts of the events in Wave, of how Naruto refused to give up and abandon their sensei when Zabuza captured him, of how he reacted to Inari's past and how he inspired and connected with the boy, entered her mind. She unconsciously balled her hand, forming a firmly clenched fist. Did he really face this kind of treatment all the time? Why? What could possibly make the so much of the village feel this way towards him? Sure, he was annoying, and he'd probably played some trick on at least half the village, probably a lot more, but he couldn't deserve this. Her head fell forward, her hair falling forward and hiding her eyes in shadow. "Mom…"

"Hm?"

"Why would you say that? Do you even know him?"

Sayuri faced her once again, raising a brow. "What?"

The kunoichi stared intensely at her mother as she straightened up. "I said 'do you even know him?'. Do all the adults feel like that? How long has he been treated this way?" Her gaze grew more intense as she continued. She could feel anger beginning to bubble up inside her from these realizations, but that anger wasn't directed entirely at her mother. Part of it was at the village. Sure, she may not particularly like Naruto, but no one deserved to be treated that way. And part of it…

… Part of it was at herself, for not seeing it sooner and treating the blond so poorly, especially when you factor in how hypocritical it was of her.

"Sakura…"

"What is it? If there's really something so bad about him, why can't you answer?"

Sayuri met her daughter's defiant stare for a few moments before removing her gloves, stepping over to her and placing her hands on her shoulders. "Listen." She said, knowing that, from Sakura's perspective and with her knowledge, it did seem unjust. "I know it might seem unfair… but please just listen to your mother on this. That boy is trouble. I'm only worrying about your safety."

Sakura's face twisted in anger as she shot up, brushing her mother's hands aside. "I'm telling you, you don't need to worry. He wouldn't hurt either of us." Well… he'd certainly like to beat the crap out of the object of her affections, but he would never do anything serious or permanent, and if they were in danger, she knew from the events in Wave that he would do everything he could to protect them.

Sayuri frowned, growing frustrated with her daughter sticking up for that… _boy_… and with the Third's Law. She still couldn't understand why he wanted to hide the Jinchuriki's true nature from those who he'd be around the most. Who would be in the most danger. "Sakura, you don't know who he really is. Don't take his side in this. Just listen to me."

"Then explain it to me!" She said, getting fed up with all the secrecy.

"I can't!" The woman almost snarled. "I'd like to but I can't!" she growled as she averted her gaze. "I wish I'd never let you follow after your father."

"Why, just because I ended up on Naruto's team?" Her mother's heated look was all the answer she needed. Her anger peaked at this realization. Normally, she would have questioned why she couldn't tell her, and later this would occur to her, but right now she was too angry. "What could possibly be so bad about him that you would regret letting me be a ninja just because it puts me near him?"

"Sakura…"

"Sure he's annoying and obnoxious. He's far from the smartest and he's not cool like Sasuke. He's probably pulled one over on most of the village and he never shuts up about how he's going to be Hokage. But… but that doesn't mean he should be treated like some kind of monster!" She said, meeting her mother's shocked gaze. She had to say, she never thought a day would come when she'd be defending the knucklehead. "Naruto's brave. He never gives up and he won't stop fighting for what he believes in! You weren't with us at Wave. You didn't see how he affected the people of the country. How he fought against hopeless odds to save our sensei when we could have run or how he inspired a boy who'd lost his hero. Why? What could possibly justify the way you and the rest of the village see him?"

A loud smack echoed through the room as Sayuri's anger finally boiled over, causing her to strike her daughter. Sakura's head was turned to the side by the impact before she righted herself and stared at her mother with wide eyes. The woman herself seemed to realize what she'd done as her expression turned from anger to shock.

"Sakura…" she reached for her daughter, only for the young kunoichi to turn and run back to her room. "Wait, Sakura!" but she closed the door behind her. After a moment of stunned silence, Sayuri's gaze turned cold and she clenched her fist. Even when he wasn't present, that boy caused trouble!

Meanwhile, Sakura leaned against the door, unable to understand what just happened. Why would her mother possibly hate her teammate so much. Briefly she considered… if it was enough to make her mother act in such a manner… was there really some secret that could justify all this?

As she thought of that, memories of the blond, his better moments and the things she'd seen of him in wave flashed through her mind and she immediately shook off such doubts. Even if there was some dark secret surrounding Naruto, it couldn't possibly be a good enough reason to warrant such loathing. Knowing now the kind of resentment most of her village held for him, she resolved to try to be nicer to the blond from now on.


	5. Chapter 5

**If your reading this the day it was updated and just went straight to the newest chapter, I just uploaded 2 chapters at once, so go read chapter 4 if you haven't already.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>It looked to be another beautiful day in Konoha as the sun began to rise over the horizon, shining its bright rays upon the stirring village. Several of those rays of light managed to make it through the window of the apartment to one Uzumaki Naruto, causing the whiskered blond to stir from his slumber. Cracking a single Rinnegan eye open, Naruto groaned as light hit his retina and caused some minor discomfort. He wished he could sleep in, but knew that if he didn't get up on time Zabuza, heartless man that he was, would probably come to his apartment and drag him out.<p>

And so, with the deliberate slowness from one who had not fully woken up, Naruto moved into a sitting position, his eyes still closed as he scratched his belly.

It took a few moments for him to become capable of movement, but when he did Naruto threw the covers off and slowly turned his body until his legs dangled over the edge of the bed. Another moment later his feet were touching the cool tiling of his floor, and Naruto stood up, arms stretching above his head and back popping and cracking as he did so.

Making his way over to the window, he let his right hand fall to the back of his head, scratching his scalp while using his left to wipe a tear out of the corner of his still sleep-filled eye as he reached his destination. The blond winced as the light shined into his eyes before letting out a yawn and stretching once more.

Finally, he felt his famous vitality begin to awaken. A confident smirk grew across his face as he finally fully woke up, ready to face whatever the new day had in store as he took in the sunrise. Suddenly, his stomach growled. With a slight chuckle, he rubbed his belly before walking over to the door. His hand reached for the knob before stopping just inches from its target as a grimace marred his features. He had just remembered that his milk had expired… again… and he'd neglected to get more.

His smile returned. '_Ah well. I guess I'll just have to treat myself to some ramen._' It may not be as good as the divine dish that was Ichiraku ramen, but instant ramen was still delicious. He turned the knob and the door opened, creaking slightly on its hinges. The blond took one step into the living room before he stopped with a look of shock on his face.

Lounging on his couch was none other than his sensei. The silver haired man was reclining with his head on the pillow and his feet over an arm of the couch and hanging in the air, reading his book. He turned a lazy eye to his student, but didn't take his nose out of his precious Icha-Icha. "Hey, good morning. Sleep well?"

Naruto shook himself out of his astonishment. "K-Kakashi-sensei? What are you- How'd you get in here?"

Kakashi just chuckled as he sat upright. "Come now. You should know that it would be easy for a ninja to sneak into a place like this. As for why I'm here, well, I thought I'd bring you a gift."

Naruto's expression lit up. Not counting Ichiraku ramen, he could count the number of gifts he had gotten on one hand. "Really?" Then his expression fell, now showing slight disbelief. "Wait… you broke into my apartment this early in the morning just to give me a gift?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Well, I think you'll understand when you see what it is." Kakashi reached behind the arm of the couch and Naruto ran forward, wild anticipation clear as he neared Kakashi pulled the gift into view… then the blonds' face twisted in distaste. In his hand, Kakashi held a basket full of fresh fruit and vegetables. Giving one of his eye-smiles, the copy ninja approached his student and handed him the basket, who took it with both hands. "I thought that, with all the ramen you eat, you could use a little more nutrition in your diet." He didn't mention that one time the Third Hokage had shown him the genin's apartment and he had seen what was in Naruto's fridge. The boy ate nothing but ramen, cereal and bread. How anyone could get by on just that was beyond the jonin.

Well, he supposed it was better than the way Sakura used to starve herself, which he could never really understand. He was very thankful Haku managed to put an end to that.

Naruto looked down at his gift, his face scrunched up in its fox-like way. Ugh, he _hated_ vegetables! And fruits weren't particularly appealing to him either. "Uh… thanks."

The masked jonin gave his student a curious glance and tilted his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, nothing." Naruto replied, shaking his head rapidly. Even if he didn't like it, it was still a gift. His gaze turned back to the basket, discontent clear in his ringed depths. "It's just that… Not that I don't appreciate it, but…"

"You don't like it." Kakashi replied simply and the blond nodded. The Sharingan wielder shrugged, taking out his book again. "That's fine. Lots of people aren't fond of them, but you have to eat them from time to time."

"Yeah, yeah." The Rinnegan bearer waved off Kakashi's statement as he walked past him to set the basket down on the kitchen table. "I heard that all the time from Iruka-sensei, but I turned out just fine without them."

"Not really." Kakashi replied, causing Naruto to give him a questioning glance. "If I recall correctly, you're not particularly satisfied with your height. Or lack thereof." Seeing his student's gaze become a heated glare, the man quickly raised one of his hands in a pacifying manner. "Hey, I was just stating a fact."

With a huff, Naruto crossed his arms and turned his head, his face scrunched up once more. "Yeah, what about it?"

The masked man shrugged. "I suppose you haven't read far enough into the anatomy book I gave you to learn this, but the body needs proper nutrition to grow. Lacking proper nourishment can lead to stunted growth. And, good as it may be, ramen is not a particularly nutritious food." Seeing Naruto's shocked expression, Kakashi continued. "Did it never occur to you that the reason you're lacking in stature?"

"B-but that's…" Naruto said before shaking his head, taking a step forward and bringing up a fist in defiance. "No way am I giving up ramen!"

"I never said you had to. I just said you have to eat something healthier from time to time." Kakashi replied in his usual, impassive manner. Seeing his student staring at the ground in consideration, an idea occurred to the copy ninja. He tilted his head forward and closed his eyes, releasing a slightly melodramatic sigh. "Alright. Seeing as I want what's best for you, and you're obviously conflicted, how about I make you a deal." The boy's ears quirked and he once again gave his sensei his full attention. The jonin's single visible eye raised to the ceiling as he brought a hand to his chin. "If you promise to eat more a more balanced diet from now on… I'll teach you my signature jutsu, once you move on to the lightning element." His eye fell back to the blond. "You remember don't you?"

The purple-eyed blonds' eyes shined with excitement as a wide grin spread across his face. He had only seen it vaguely through the clearing mist, but it was so vivid in his mind. That mass of pure chakra, radiating bolts of lightning. "Really? You mean it?" He said, his hands balling up in anticipation. He could imagine himself using that jutsu. Based on the damage it would cause, he'd never use it on his rival, but he'd sure as hell show him up with it!

Kakashi nodded. "Of course."

Naruto pumped his fist into the air. An incredible jutsu and the possibility of no longer being short? How could he refuse? "Awesome! Alright Kakashi-sensei, you've got a deal."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Glad to hear it." Unknown to his student, in his head a chibi-fied version of him was holding up the victory sign. Truth was, he had planned to teach both his dojutsu wielding students that technique anyway. He'd basically got him to agree to something he didn't want to do for nothing. "Now's as good a time as any to start, you know?"

That killed the blonds' exuberance. He turned back to the basket with a look of distaste. "Yeah… guess you're right."

"Good… well, I'll leave you to your breakfast." The jonin replied as he walked toward the nearby open window. As he placed his hand on the windowsill and prepared to climb out, he turned to face his student again. "Oh, by the way, I got you some fresh milk too. It's in the fridge."

Naruto smiled. "Really? Tha-" Something occurred to him and he stopped in the middle of the word. "… Wait, how'd you know I needed that?" he then gave his sensei a suspicious glare as he raised a fist, as if that would be the least bit intimidating to the jonin. "Kakashi-sensei... have you done this before?" He ground out in outrage.

"Don't be ridiculous." The silver haired jonin replied. "See you later." He said as he began to climb out, before turning his head, giving his student another impassive look. "Oh, and don't be late." He said before he climbed out the window. Naruto's expression became one of absolute disbelief as he sputtered in shock, dumbstruck from the absurdity of KAKASHI HATAKE telling him not to be late.

The moment the jonin was out of sight, Naruto regained his bearings with a shake of his head, followed by a glare at the jonin's former location. He bolted after his sensei, stuck his upper body out the window, glaring in the copy ninja's direction as he shook his fist after him. "WHO DO YOU THINK I AM? YOU?"

* * *

><p>As the sun reached the halfway point on its journey towards the horizon, the three genin of Team Seven made their way back to their homes. All three were covered in scratches and dirt and in Naruto's case, blood. Not much, and nothing serious, just a few minor cuts. Much to the blonds' dismay, Zabuza had discovered his healing abilities, and as such decided not to go so easy on him anymore.<p>

The blond had simply gaped at hearing that. That was what he called easy?

Still, he had begun to adjust to the sword wielding jonin's brutal training methods. At the very least, he wouldn't collapse as soon as he got home anymore. The blond didn't notice, but he'd adjusted unnaturally quickly to his new regiment. The reason for this lied in his healing rate. The body grew stronger, faster, and more resilient as a result of muscles repairing themselves after damage, such as being overstressed during exercise, and thanks to his ability to recover from any injury overnight, he would benefit from physical training more quickly than the average person. This was part one reason Jinchuriki were such dangerous opponents, aside from the obvious: they all had accelerated healing, meaning they'd all see results from their training far more quickly than a normal human and as both the host of the strongest Biju and an Uzumaki, who themselves had legendary vitality and a heightened healing rate, he'd see results even more quickly.

Turning to his head to the side and looking out the corner of his eye, he saw his pink haired teammate wasn't so quick to adapt. Despite the rest they'd been given before departing, the girl was hunched over with her head down, her arms hanging limp at her sides as if they were weighed down, her legs lumbering as if held back by mud. Clearly, she'd like to stop and rest, but she trudged on, eager to return home.

Looking to his rival, he saw Sasuke was in the best condition of the three. But then, Kakashi wasn't as harsh a teacher as Zabuza or even Haku when the latter decided it was necessary. He walked leisurely with his hands in his pockets, perfectly fine aside from the dirt on his cloths and a few holes where Haku's needles had struck true during their daily chakra control exercise.

"Man, they really don't pull any punches." Naruto commented, bringing his hand to his shoulder, massaging the area where he had taken a kunai during the torture session Zabuza called training. Thanks to the Kyuubi, all his minor injuries had already healed, but that one was taking time and there was still a dull ache. If he gained nothing else from the training under sword wielding jonin, he would at least build up a heightened tolerance to pain.

"Ah… tell me about it…" Sakura groaned, finally giving in to the mental and physical exhaustion. She placed her hand on a nearby wall and leaned against it as she bent forward, her head falling limply. "Bath… I need a bath…"

Seeing this, Naruto took a step forward, concerned while Sasuke spared them a single glance before continuing on his way. "You ok?"

Sakura lifted her head slightly to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah… just… just give me a minute." She replied. She could feel her arms and legs trembling from the day's activities. Turning, she put her back to the wall and slid to the ground, letting her legs slide out in front of her. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, her chest rising and falling as she welcomed the reprieve from the strain on her legs. "What about you?" Naruto blinked, surprised that she was actually interested in how he was doing. It must have shown on his face because Sakura managed a slight chuckle. "Haku told me some stories about Zabuza's… methods." she frowned at that, knowing they were probably more extreme than Haku's. And unlike the ice user, the demon of the mist likely didn't cut him any breaks. "How can you handle it so easily?"

Naruto gave her his wide grin and brought his fist to his chest. "Ah, you know me Sakura. I can take anything the world throws at me."

"Somehow, I don't doubt that you really could." Sakura replied, looking down. Her tone was slightly bitter, but her fatigue hid it well. After her fight with her mother, the pink haired girl had calmed down and considered her mother's words. What could it be about Naruto that would make her worry for her safety? And why couldn't she tell her? There had to be some reason everyone acted this way, her mother was usually right, after all? She might have listened, had she not known Naruto. While she didn't know him all that well, having had no interest in getting to know him before, what she did know didn't paint a picture of the monster her mother's reactions and the village's general mistreatment of him seemed to hint at. Quite the opposite actually, the way he acted in Wave proved he had a good heart.

Further thought on the matter led her to suspect his situation was similar to Haku's childhood experience and the villager's hatred was irrational. Besides, even if there was some horrible secret surrounding the blond, if it was really dangerous, something would have happened by now, right? Especially given how he's treated. She kind of envied the Rinnegan bearer's strength. If she was treated like that every day for most or all of her life, she'd probably wind up dark, cynical and mad at the world.

Sensing Naruto sit down beside her as she mused, Sakura sighed and closed her eyes, letting her head fall forward as she turned her mind back to her training, knowing that it was best to avoid that topic. Thinking of her poor performance brought a recent fear to the surface of her thoughts: That she would drag the team down. That she would be useless, or worse, a liability, next time there was a crisis. "But I'm not like you, Naruto… I'm not sure I'll ever get the hang of this."

Naruto sat back, propping his leg up and resting his arm on his knee as he turned to look at Sakura with a reassuring smile. "Ah, come on Sakura, don't think like that. You'll get better in no time. I'm sure that pretty soon, you'll be able to take whatever Haku can dish out, no problem."

Sakura gave the blond a grateful smile. "Thanks."

There was a lull in the conversation before Naruto decided to bring up something he'd been curious about for the past few days. "Hey, what's been up with you lately?"

"Hm?"

Naruto scratched his head, unsure if he should ask this question. They say you should never look a gift horse in the mouth, after all. Ultimately, he decided to just come out and say it. "I just noticed that you've changed a bit. You haven't been fawning over Sasuke as much and you haven't yelled at me as often as you used to. I mean, you haven't tried to hit me once in days!" The Jinchuriki was particularly happy about that last part, although she hadn't stopped altogether and still scolded him. Fortunately, Haku's lessons in tact were also helping as he was learning to avoid saying or doing things that would provoke her accidentally.

Sakura shrugged, looking away. "Well… I just noticed that Sasuke wasn't really responding to the way I acted around him… don't look at me like that, I haven't given up on him!" she snapped, seeing his face light up. "I just thought I might try a different approach. As for the way I've been acting towards you, I figured it was a bit hypocritical of me to treat you like that when I was basically doing the same thing to Sasuke. Besides, I'm not the only one who's changed a little. You haven't asked me out in a while, or been nearly as annoying as you used to be." She then smirked. "But if you liked how I acted before, I could always…"

"No thanks." Naruto said quickly, raising his hands defensively. Sakura chuckled at his response, and he joined her after a few seconds.

"So, what do you have in mind for the rest of the day? Any plans?" The kunoichi asked.

"Hm?" Naruto turned to her and raised a brow before tilting his head up and looking to the sky. "I don't know. Ah!" he said with a snap of his fingers, the proverbial light bulb going off in his head. "I know, I'll see what Shiho's doing."

Sakura's expression showed slight curiosity. "Shiho? Who's that?"

Naruto leaned towards her, his features showing his famous exuberance, despite the recent torture session. "A friend I made at the library. She helped me find what I was looking for when Zabuza sent me there and showed me some interesting stuff. Want to meet her?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, thanks. Maybe some other time."

"What about you? Any plans?"

The kunoichi pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around her knees. "All I plan to do is take a bath and then sleep till tomorrow." She replied before standing, ignoring the protests of her still tired and sore limbs and brushing herself off as the blond got back on his feet as well. She began to walk away, turning to face the Jinchuriki one more time. "Well, see you, Naruto." She said, stumbling briefly.

Seeing the girl was obviously still hadn't recovered from their training, Naruto took a step forward, a slightly concerned expression on his face. "Need a hand? I could help you home if you want."

Sakura turned her head and smiled at him. "No thanks, I can make it. Besides, I don't want to trouble you."

Naruto gave his trademark grin. "It's no trouble at all, Sakura. You're a lot lighter than you look."

The smile instantly fell off Sakura's face. With a jerk, her head fell forward and shadows covered her eyes. "… What did you say?" she growled.

"Uh…" Naruto noticed her change in demeanor, along with the sudden air of danger surrounding her and his expression changed to one of confusion and apprehension. "It's no trouble at all...?"

The aura around Sakura darkened.

"After that."

Now, even Naruto could tell something was wrong. Unfortunately, this was Naruto so he didn't know what. Thus, he replied honestly.

"… You're lighter than you look?"

The results were not pretty. Before he could even blink Sakura whipped around, spinning on her heel, extending her arm throwing a textbook perfect punch right into his jaw, the momentum from her movement adding the force of the blow which was already packed with feminine fury.

The blow sent Naruto flying through the air, a small amount of blood escaping his mouth before the back of his head collided harshly with a stone wall and he slid bone-lessly down the structure, falling forward as his feet touched the ground and laying face first in the dirt. "…Why?"

Sakura glared down at him, her rage allowing her to ignore her sore body. "You said I look heavy."

Naruto hadn't meant that at all. "I-… I meant you look light, but you're actually even lighter."

Sakura immediately took a step back, feeling her face heating up in embarrassment. "O-oh… sorry." She was trying to be nicer to the blond, but you couldn't expect her to completely change overnight. Besides, negative comments about a lady's size were one of the easiest ways to bring their wrath upon you. Having rationalized her slip, she shook off her embarrassment. "B- Be more careful how you word things next time!"

"G- Got it…"

* * *

><p>The Rinnegan bearer sat cross-legged on the ground, holding a triangular onigiri, which he quickly brought to his mouth and took a bite out of. Standing beside him, holding her own rice ball and also leaning against the wall, was Shiho. Fortunately for the Rinnegan bearer, the girl had been on her lunch break, and didn't mind sharing a rice ball or two. Actually, quite the opposite, she made them herself and was anxiously awaiting feedback on her cooking. So she watched with an expectant smile as the blond swallowed a mouthful before quickly taking another, obviously enjoying it.<p>

"Mmm! This is great!" The Rinnegan bearer said, briefly forgetting Haku's lesson and talking while still chewing. Granted, he kept his face away from her and his mouth mostly closed.

The girl beamed at the praise. "Really? You think so?"

Naruto, remembering what he was doing and Haku's lessons, swallowed before turning to the girl, giving her his trademark grin. "Yeah, it's great. You said you made it yourself?"

The messy haired blonde girl chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I used to eat out most of the time and thought I'd try something new. I wasn't sure if I'd be any good." Her smile faded and she turned her head away, staring at the ground dejectedly, running a hand through her hair. With a sigh, she continued. "… To be honest, I'm pretty hopeless with anything aside from my job."

The young genin gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't sell yourself short. You did a great job with these." He replied, causing her to smile back before his expression became curious. "Hey. Now that you mention it, what do you do around here anyway?"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention, didn't I? Sorry about that." she said, rubbing the back of her head as she chuckled sheepishly. "I'm training to be a cryptographer. And I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "A what?"

Shiho blinked, not that you could tell with her glasses. "You don't know?" Naruto shook his head in response. Her face became serious, as it always did when she was discussing her work, and adjusted her glasses. "A cryptographer studies techniques for the secure transfer of information." She replied, her tone, usually containing a slight air of timidity when she spoke to anyone, sounding more confident. She raised her hand with a single finger extended. "Basically, we come up with the various ways to communicate safely between our ninja and the codes we use, and work to find the ciphers to decode enemy communication and documents, or on the rare occasions our own ninja or allies have to come up with a unique one on the spot. Of course, we also manage the library."

"Huh. Sounds like it'd be right up your alley." Naruto noted, knowing how much his fellow blond enjoyed books. "Not everyone could do that. I know I'd never be able sit indoors reading and analyzing messages day in and day out. I'd probably go crazy in a week."

Shiho put her hand to her mouth as she giggled, easily imagining the blond doing just that. "It's not so bad. I get to help our village without setting foot on the battlefield… I'm not really cut out to be a fighter, and I get to spend all my free time in the library. That's not so bad, right?"

"Eh, guess not." Naruto shrugged before shoving the last of his onigiri in his mouth. As he finished the rice ball, he frowned in concentration as he thought of what he'd just heard. This conversation had been somewhat enlightening. He had never really given much thought to the espionage side of a ninja's duties, beyond direct spying anyway. This reinforced something that Zabuza had repeatedly hammered into his mind: he still had a lot to learn. He'd need to know everything if he wanted to be Hokage someday, after all.

Looking up, he saw Shiho had finished her own rice ball too and was wiping her hands on a napkin. "I have to admit, books really aren't all that bad. Back in the academy, I used to do terrible because I could never bring myself top study. Iruka-sensei's lessons would always bore me to tears. I wish he'd been able to spin it like you did." Yes, the kunoichi had done what so many had dismissed as impossible: actually get Naruto enthusiastic about reading. Oh, it wasn't easy. At first, Naruto had only read things that interested him, mainly technique scrolls, but after a the girl cleverly pointed out how history was full of awesome ninja and epic battles, the most famous of which typically being very detailed, Naruto had gradually become more interested in text. Though he was still uninterested in most subjects and he was far from an avid reader, he'd come to enjoy reading and learning, provided he found the topic interesting. Of course, the fact that his clones were being forced to read various books probably contributed to his growing interest. The blonds' gaze then fell to the ground. "You know… back at the academy, no one aside from Iruka-sensei was ever interested in helping me with anything. His assistants would always shoot down any question I asked and send me out for the slightest reasons. That's probably part of the reason I didn't want to be in class. I used to skip all the time." He turned to the cryptographer with a smile. "Thanks… for helping me when you didn't have to."

Shiho was surprised to hear that, and it showed on her face. Remembering what she'd been told, she realized most of the village probably had it out for the boy. She was glad that, from the sound of it, he at least had a few people looking out for him. Smiling back, she said, "No problem. Come back anytime." Looking up at the sky, she added. "Sorry, but it's time I get back to work. I'm still an apprentice; I need to work hard if I ever want to become a full fledged cryptographer."

Naruto stood. "See you later."

Shiho began to walk away before she stopped and turned. "Oh right, I almost forgot. You want to be Hokage someday, right?" Naruto looked surprised she'd bring that up now, but nodded. "Well, I had a thought. If you really want to be Hokage, why don't you look up everything you can on the ones that came before you? I'm sure you don't want to imitate them, but learning what made them great might help you in the long run."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up before his gaze turned to the sky and he brought a finger to his chin. "You know, that's not a bad idea." He then turned to the messy-haired kunoichi with an excited grin. "I can't believe I never thought of that! Thanks a lot, Shiho." With that, Shiho said her goodbyes then hurried off. Naruto looked after her as she entered the building, thinking on what she'd said. Well, no time like the present. He walked forward, ready to follow her advice and look up whatever he could on the Hokage. Just as he was reaching for the doorknob, he froze. His eyes widening behind his sunglasses. "Crap! I almost forgot!" he turned and bolted in the opposite direction, running at top speed through the village and ignoring the protests of villagers he nearly bumped into as he ran by.

He just remembered a few of the books he'd checked out were about to expire. If he didn't renew them, he'd be stuck with the late fees. As stated earlier, he was a bit stingy. Probably came from having so little growing up.

As he turned a corner, running with his arms trailing behind him as ninja often did, his luck finally ran out as he slammed headfirst into someone, sending the unidentified person to the ground and him reeling back before falling flat on his behind.

Naruto grabbed his scalp with both of his hands and bending forward slightly. "Ow…"

Feeling his sunglasses had been slightly knocked out of place by the impact, he quickly adjusted them with his left hand, opening his eye when he felt them fall back into position to see who he'd bumped into.

Sitting before him with a relatively calm expression was a young woman in her mid twenties with violet hair done in a short and spiky pony tail and light brown, pupil-less eyes. Her clothing didn't leave much to the imagination, consisting of a form fitting mesh bodysuit that ran from just below her neck to her thighs showing off her generous assets and hourglass figure, a dark orange mini skirt with a dark blue belt and a tan overcoat that was billowing in the wind, along with a necklace that resembled a snake's fang.

A blush spread across his face when he saw how revealing her choice of clothing was and her rather generous figure before snapping back to reality, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, sorry about that. I was kind of in a hurry and…" he stopped when he realized the woman wasn't listening. Noticing she wasn't looking at him, he followed her gaze and saw what she had been looking at: a pair of dango which she had obviously been holding, sitting on the ground between them.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, as he looked away, the woman's head fell forward, her face hidden by shadows, and had begun to shake with barely contained rage as her hands clenched. As the Jinchuriki looked up to apologize, he froze in his tracks as a killing intent that rivaled Zabuza's crashed down on him, chilling him to his bones. The woman's face, previously a mask of calm, had morphed into a look of pure, unadulterated rage and he realized her previous expression was the calm before the storm.

Naruto, his survival instincts kicking in, quickly bent back, placing his right hand on the ground, flipped backwards on to his feet and leapt back just as Anko raised her arm. His eyes widened to the point that their edges could almost be seen behind his sunglasses as a trio of snakes erupted from the furious kunoichi's sleeve.

Focusing chakra into his legs, he jumped backward, spun in midair and landed on a ridge on the building behind him. Two jumps later, he was on the roof, only for the enraged woman to suddenly appear above him, coming down for an axe kick.

The blond leapt to the side, barely evading the attack. He heard the tiles shatter when her heel crashed into them, but didn't take his eyes off of the special jonin.

Naruto raised his hands in front of him in a placating manner. "Just calm down, lady! Look, I'm sorry about the-"

"You think I care?" the woman shouted back. "I hope you're ready, brat, because you're in for a world of pain." With a sweep of her arm, four shuriken flew toward the terrified boy, who quickly ducked before taking off at top speed, Anko following close behind.

"I SAID I WAS SORRY!" Naruto yelled as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, the purple haired kunoichi in hot pursuit. He turned his head just in time to see three more snakes speeding towards him from the woman's sleeve, their mouths open, ready to bite into him, their fangs glistening slightly in the light, causing the blond to pale.

At the edge of the roof, rather than jumping to the next rooftop, he allowed himself to fall between buildings, narrowly avoiding the serpents that twisted their bodies and followed after their prey. Once more focusing chakra into his legs, this time to weaken the impact, he landed, bending at his knees and using that to spring himself into the streets, the citizens and shinobi quickly getting out the way as they saw someone was chasing him. The kunoichi recalled the serpents as she leapt down from the roof, her eyes radiating rage and hatred like the sun warmth.

"SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM THIS MANIAC!" Naruto cried as he ran into another alley, bounding back and forth off the walls twice to reach the roof as quickly as possible. Of course, the on lookers didn't move to help him, most not wishing to aid the Jinchuriki, and those who did were simply not willing to get between the snake mistress and her quarry for any reason and instead made silent prayers for the boy.

Landing on the rooftop, Naruto made a cross shaped hand sign, creating a cloud of smoke that obscured him from view. As Anko leapt, reaching the rooftop in a single bound, she hovered in the air above the building just long enough to see twelve identical blonds shoot out of the cloud, each rushing off in a different direction.

Anko landed and shot after the nearest clone with a growl, vanishing in a body flicker and reappearing right beside it. The doomed doppelganger barely had time to look shocked before the special jonin's leg lashed out. It felt her foot digging into its side before it poofed out of existence. The moment it vanished, two kunai appeared from her sleeves and were grasped in her hands. She spun on her heels and launched them at two other clones, striking each in the shoulder and causing them to burst into smoke. "You really think you can get away that easily?" she yelled loud enough for half the village to hear. "Get back here!" With that she launched herself at the next clone.

The doppelganger leapt from building to building at top speed, only to notice a shadow falling over it. The clone turned to see Anko hovering behind it, her eyes shining with malice.

Far away, nearly on the other side of the village, the real Naruto had his back to a wall. The blond could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to calm down. Suddenly, the memories of another clone flashed into his mind, telling him the snake summoner was far away from his current location. With a sigh, he stepped away from the wall… only for his eyes to widen in shock as he suddenly found himself wrapped up by several snakes and hoisted into the air. He struggled before the serpents turned him around in their grip and he found himself face to face with the purple haired woman, though the fire in her eyes had cooled a bit, her gaze was still murderous as she stared into his concealed purple orbs.

"Well, well, look what we have here." Anko stated, a cold smile on her face as, with a mental command, she ordered her snakes to tighten around the blond, causing him to yelp. "Didn't think you'd gotten away that easily, did you?"

Naruto struggled briefly, the snakes constricting tighter in response before he stopped moving. Anyone could see that he was officially screwed. Most people in this situation would probably start saying their prayers, but Naruto wasn't 'most people'. Growing inside him, alongside his fear, was anger, over his current situation and for receiving such a disproportionate response to knocking a few sticks of dango on the ground. He wouldn't even act like this if someone knocked over his ramen! "Listen, lady. I don't know what your problem is, but I said I was sorry. Seriously, what the hell's the matter with you? It was just two sticks of dango."

Anko's expression twisted in rage. "Just dango? JUST DANGO? Are you out of your mind? Dango's the single most heavenly dish on the planet! And you ruined two perfectly good sticks of it!" she hissed at the end.

"Well I'm sorry." Naruto replied, ignoring the snakes, whose heads were mere inches away from various parts of his body, ready to sink their no-doubt venomous fangs into his skin before his own face than contorted in anger as well. "Sorry you have some major screws loose! First of all, no one should be this upset over some spilled food! Hell, not even Choji gets this pissed off over something like this." He mumbled the last part. "Secondly, ramen is the most heavenly dish on the planet!"

Anko's eyes widened in shock. "What? Are you crazy? How can you compare a bowl of noodles and broth to dango? There's nothing better!"

"Ramen's the most delectable food in existence!"

"DANGO!"

"RAMEN!"

"DANGO!"

"RAMEN!"

"The hell's wrong with you kid? What you're saying is bordering on blasphemy!"

"You're one to talk! I bet the reason why you think those snacks are the best thing in the world is because your sense of taste is as screwed up as everything else about you!"

Anko pulled her extended arm back and had her snakes reel the blond in and shift him so his body was parallel to the ground, their faces now only a foot away from each other. "You've got balls kid, I'll give you that." The two glared at each other, the blond remaining defiant in the face of his captor, until Anko recalled something. She smirked before grabbing a surprised Naruto by his collar as her snakes released him and vanished into her sleeve. "You're coming with me kid."

"Hey, wait just-" Naruto began indignantly before the kunoichi kicked off, leaping to the rooftop and heading off towards the administrative building, dragging the boy with her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled as he was pulled through the air by the purple haired woman's vice-like grip.

"Are you deaf as well as dumb? I said you were coming with me!" Anko yelled back, glaring over her shoulder at him.

Naruto snarled. "I know what you said! Where are you taking me, you psycho?"

"Didn't hurt me the last hundred times I heard that, doesn't hurt me when you say it, brat! Now just shut up!"

"If you think I'm just going to take this, you're as crazy as you look!"

"You-!" Their shouting match continued as they moved towards the administration building. All who recognized Anko's voice thought the kid was either very brave or very stupid to argue with her like that.

* * *

><p>Zabuza stood before the Hokage in his office, his arms folded as he looked down at the aging village leader. The Demon of the Mist was having another interview with the Hokage. In their previous discussions, they'd talked about the extent of the bloodline purges, the civil war that had taken place in Kiri and Zabuza's role in it and the gradual change in the actions of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura. This time, they were discussing more recent events, mainly, his travels across the nations, the contacts he made.<p>

"So, Gato wasn't the first to betray you?" Hiruzen asked with a raised eyebrow. Zabuza had just finished explaining his interactions with another crime lord in the Land of Hot Springs which ended in a manner similar to his dealings with Gato. In other words, said crime lord's head was sent rolling across the floor. However, they had been far less lucky in that situation. The diminutive tyrant had been forced to reveal himself earlier than the opportune time due to the clearing mist. They had no such luck the last time they'd been betrayed and had barely made it out of the trap their employer set by the skin of their teeth.

The masked ninja snorted. "Hardly. You'd be surprised the amount of times an employer decided that they'd rather cash in our bounties after we've completed our end of the bargain and tried to screw us. Luckily, we could usually make up the loss by taking everything of value the bastard had, or cashing in the bounty of whoever they hired to take us down."

Hiruzen wasn't the least bit surprised by that. He closed his eyes as he spoke. "I know full well how greedy people can be. To be honest, I'm not particularly shocked they attempted to betray someone of your character either. Arrogance can lead people to do foolish things." After a moment, he looked up at the new leaf ninja. "I'm surprised you never asked about the fate of the Demon Brothers."

Zabuza tilted his head back. "Ah, I was wondering what happened to them. I assume your ninja rounded them up?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes. They are in custody. I assume you wish for them to be released."

"Che, no. They can rot for all I care."

Hiruzen's expression hardened. "You would abandon your comrades so carelessly?"

Zabuza met his glare. "Those two weren't my comrades. They turned on our village for their own gain. When they heard I abandoned the village, they decided it would be a good idea to hook up with my group and I allowed it because I was in need of followers. They only followed me as long as it benefited them. They may not have turned on me in the middle of a contract, but they weren't really loyal. Those two would have abandoned me as soon as they had more to gain from doing so, so I don't have any problem returning the favor."

Hiruzen nodded. Though he didn't entirely agree, he could understand that, and the way the jonin worded it suggested that if they _were_ loyal, he _would_have done something for them. "I see." He replied. After a moment, he spoke up again. "What is the current condition of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist to the best of your knowledge?"

Zabuza gave a short laugh. "Last I heard, basically disbanded." Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly at that. "Kiri only had three of the swords in their possession last I checked, but that was years ago. They could have lost them all by now, and considering how successful they were in reclaiming my Kubikiribocho, I doubt they managed to retrieve any of the others."

"Do you know of the fates of the other swordsmen?"

Zabuza shrugged, his eyes gaining a slightly nostalgic gleam. "We didn't exactly part on the best of terms. I got along with most of my generation, but most of the new guys pissed me off, especially Raiga and Kisame. Far as I know, those two are still around. The rest may be, or they could have all gone belly up. I made a point of acquiring the newest versions of the Bingo Books I could and my contacts were of some help, but I've been pretty much out of the loop as far as Kiri's concerned for a while now."

The third Hokage nodded again. That was definitely an interesting bit of information. It was well known that Kiri had lost two of the fabled blades, but to hear that they'd lost nearly all of them?

He closed his eyes in thought, raising his pipe to his mouth and inhaling deeply before breathing out a plume of smoke. "Can you describe the abilities of the other swords?"

Zabuza cocked his head to the side, his eyes rising to the ceiling as he considered it. That was one of the village's greatest secrets. Then again, they'd lost most of the swords and with a few exceptions (among the newer generation) the weapons didn't make the man. With a shrug, Zabuza answered "Sure." With that, he began to count them out on his fingers. "Firstly, there's the Kiba. It has the power to convert the user's chakra to lightning and control natural lightning. Then-" The masked ninja stopped and frowned when the two men heard the sound of two people yelling, growing louder and louder as whoever it was grew closer. The two looked out the windows to someone rushing towards the office, dragging an orange mass through the air behind them.

"Where the hell are you taking me, you psycho?" Yelled a voice that the two inhabitants of the room immediately recognized, both wondering just what the kid had gotten himself into now.

"I've heard just about enough from you, squirt!" A female shot back, causing Hiruzen's eyes to widen before he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"And you called me stupid! In case you've forgotten, you're the one dragging me god knows where!"

"Well then good news, brat. We're here!" she said as she leapt off the wall surrounding the administration building. When she was level with the windows of the Hokage's office, she pulled back the arm holding the blond and took aim.

"Wait a minute, what are you- AH!" Naruto cried out in shock as she hurled him to the conveniently open window in the room… with Zabuza right along his path. The former missing nin easily sidestepped the flying blond, who crashed against the wall opposite the window by his back, his head snapping backwards and impacting on the wall, before he fell to the ground with a groan. The village leader and the masked jonin looked slightly surprised to see him before a purple haired kunoichi leapt into the room through the window, landing in the center of the room with her back to Zabuza, who regarded her with slight interest and mild annoyance.

"Hey, old man." Anko said, her usually cheerful attitude absent as she glared at the Hokage and placed a hand on her hip. "We need to talk."

The old man sighed before looking from the woman to the Jinchuriki, who was sitting on the floor rubbing the back of his head. "Naruto are you alright?"

Naruto continued to nurse his aching skull for a moment before his head shot to the purple haired kunoichi. "What the hell's your problem, you dango freak?"

"Like you've got any right to call me something like that, ya ramen addict!" Anko shot back as they glared at each other.

"Well, at least I'm not some snake loving loony who goes crazy over a snack!" Naruto shouted, taking a step towards her. Anko looked shocked to hear that, it sounded a little close to the insults she had endured after her former master's betrayal. While she was a highly respected kunoichi in the village now, she had endured years of mistrust and contempt due to her traitorous teacher's actions.

Gritting her teeth, Anko also took a step towards the blond, bending over slightly to close the gap between their faces and matching his glare with her own. "And at least I'm not some loud mouth midget that goes around wearing kill-me orange! I'll bet you've never been on a mission beyond D-rank, because there's no chance in hell your dumbass would survive in the field!" Zabuza snorted at that, knowing what the boy had been through at Wave, though he was uncertain of how to respond. On the one hand, the brat and his team had not only survived a mission of A-rank difficulty, but won him over into joining their village, and the blond had shown impressive strategic skills during their first encounter. On the other, some of the things he'd seen the blond do, most notably trying to charge him without knowing who he was, which would have been suicide if Kakashi hadn't intervened, announcing his presence when he had the element of surprise and entering Haku's ice mirrors while having no idea what they were, led credence to the her opinion. Ultimately, he decided to say nothing on the matter.

The masked ninja watched as their argument, over food of all things, devolved into an exchange of insults with a slightly amused and disgruntled gaze. By now the two really had gotten in each other's faces, they were forehead to forehead, bearing their teeth at each other, and seemed to be trying to make the other back off through physical force. Zabuza wasn't quite sure what to think about the sight before him, but decided that in the end it didn't matter. He wanted to leave, but until he finished his meeting with the Hokage, a meeting that these two were interrupting, he couldn't. "Jeez kid, what did you do to piss this broad off?" he asked. However, the blonds' response couldn't be understood, as his rapid account of the events that led to this intrusion was mixed with Anko's heated protests over being called a broad, which soon turned into another shouting match between the two.

"Enough!" Hiruzen said, silencing the two hyperactive and short tempered ninja. "Now, please. Explain why you've broken into my office… yet again I might add." His gaze turned to the sole kunoichi in the room. "Anko, how many times have I told you not to barge in here through the window?"

Anko shrugged, a smirk spreading across her face. "Don't know. Stopped counting a while back." Zabuza snorted in amusement at this.

Naruto stood and pointed an accusing finger at the purple haired kunoichi. "This lady's off her rocker! All I did was bump into her and knock her snack onto the ground, and next thing I know she's chasing me half way across the village trying to feed me to her snakes!"

Hiruzen frowned before his gaze drifted back to Anko. The woman's eyes had a mischievous glint in them as she placed a hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly. Seeing this, the third Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose to stifle the headache he could feel beginning to grow. A waste of time. That's what this was, and he knew that was all she meant it to be. "Anko… I do hope there's more to your visit than that."

"Of course. I had to drop off some forms and stuff, so I figured that, since I'd be here anyway, I could stop by, see how things were going, and you could give me your input."

Zabuza looked at the snake summoner incredulously. "Wait… did you bust in here… just to complain that this brat ruined your snack?"

Anko glared at the masked ninja and waved her arm in a dismissive manner. "Don't you dare call it 'just a snack'." Her eyes turned to the ceiling with a dreamy look. "It's the single most delicious dish in the planet." She then crossed her arms with a huff. "And Like I said, I was going to drop by anyway. Besides, I'm only doing it because the old man yelled at me every time I handled this myself. He even went so far as to forbid me from using my usual method for dealing with people who waste my dango. Jerk." She muttered the last word.

Hiruzen gave her a deadpan expression and laced his hands together on his desk. "Anko, sending anyone, especially other leaf residents, to the hospital with bone fractures and possible nerve damage is not an appropriate response to them spilling your food, no matter how much you enjoy it." Zabuza raised a non-existent brow as Naruto paled.

"Says you." Anko replied.

"If you're so upset about the loss of your meal, why don't you have him treat you to more?"

The smirk returned to the kunoichi's face. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking." She replied, causing the old man's eye to twitch.

"Anko… how long are you going to continue to waste my time like this?"

The kunoichi shrugged. "That depends, have you changed your mind?"

Hiruzen's expression showed he wasn't budging on whatever matter they spoke of. "Anko, I've already told you, this is not up for debate."

The snake summoner huffed. "Aw, come on old man. Wouldn't it be a better use of my abilities if I went on some mission? There have to be some VIPs who need guarding or some missing-nin who needs to be taken down."

Naruto was thoroughly confused at this point, and it showed. "Wait a minute, you lost me. What's this about?"

Hiruzen sighed again, placing a hand on his forehead. "Naruto, Zabuza, allow me to introduce you to Anko Mitarashi, one of our prominent kunoichi." He gestured towards the woman, who gave a grin at the praise that the observers noted to be… Naruto-ish. "I've made her a proctor for the upcoming chunin exam... this, coupled with my disapproval of her methods of dealing with people who seriously annoy her, has displeased her, so she's been doing things like this to waste my time or cause me more work as her way of getting back at me-" He said, waving his hand towards the looming pile of papers sitting on his desk and giving the bane of all Kages a look of distaste. "- and in hopes that it may convince me to change my mind."

The woman gave a dismissive wave. "Well, there's not much else I can do besides complain, and that's not going to get me anywhere."

Zabuza gave her an appraising look as he re-evaluated the woman. "So, you're the infamous Snake Mistress of Konoha? Interesting."

Anko smirked and preened slightly. "Ah, nice to see my reputation precedes me."

Zabuza snorted with amusement. "Yeah, well you've scored a few points in my book. You're one of the few in this village who's not against shedding some blood."

Anko's smirk became a wide grin. "Really? Well, you sound like my kind of guy." She said before looking him over, finding him familiar. Her eyes widened as her gaze honed in on his sword. "Wait a minute, Zabuza? As in Zabuza Momochi, the Demon Ninja of the Mist? Wow! I mean, I'd heard rumors that you'd joined the village, but I never expected any of it to be true."

Zabuza chuckled. "A fan, I take it?"

"Are you kidding? You're an inspiration to anyone who appreciates the art of assassination." She said excitedly before calming down, taking a moment to compose herself before looking at him, placing her hand in her pocket. "But enough acting like a fangirl, what led to this change in careers?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Eh, had my reasons. I got tired of working for arrogant assholes who think they own the world and can get away with putting a dagger in your back for one. The pay and the jobs were good, but working for such swine was beneath me."

Anko nodded, her eyes showing understanding. She'd worked under plenty of nobles who were that arrogant and it got on her nerves. Especially those that were rather understandably smitten by her appearance and provocative choice in clothing that they tried to win her over, thinking that with their status she would be wrapped around their fingers…

… Of course, they usually backed down when they found themselves in the grasp of one of her snakes, gasping for breath as the serpent constricted its victim, its head dangerously close to its captive and its tongue flickering threateningly on their exposed necks…

… And they weren't likely to stick a knife in your back. "I take it they've got you on probation. What they put you on, D-ranks and guard duty?"

Zabuza snorted at the thought of doing D-ranks. "Hell no. The old man's got me helping the brat's team. They're the one's that brought me here." He said, gesturing towards Naruto, who was still sitting on the ground. "They need a lot of work, but they're alright, I guess. And it is fun to torture them."

Anko gave the boy an evil smirk and leaned over to him. "Oh, really? I might just have to stop by sometime. I'm sure they'd appreciate another helping hand. The more the merrier, right?" Naruto paled at the thought of what the woman might put him and his teammates through… and how they'd react if they found out it was his fault they were suffering under her heel. "You know, I actually considered taking a genin team just so I could amuse myself putting them through hell, but Lord Hokage said 'I don't have the right mindset'."

"And considering what you just said, you still don't." Hiruzen interjected plainly.

"Che." The purple-haired kunoichi clicked her tongue. "Well, maybe with you around, this village will get a bit livelier. You know, I've been wondering. I hear you're almost never seen without that huge sword of yours. You're not compensating for something are you?"

Zabuza blinked. "Well, why don't you find out? Just name a time and place."

"Hey, snake lady!" Naruto called out over his shoulder, having walked to and opened the door. After that comment about her potentially dropping by to… help… his training, he wanted the conversation to end ASAP. "You want me to replace your precious dango, right? Well come on, let's get this over with."

Anko glared at the blond. "It's Anko!" she yelled before following after him, muttering, "Damn brat."

Once they left, Hiruzen placed a hand to his forehead as Zabuza stared after them. "Interesting woman. Little on the psychotic side though, not that I'm one to talk or that there's anything wrong with that. But seriously, sending people to the hospital over food? Tell me this level of crazy isn't the norm around here."

"Of course…" The old man began, before being interrupted by a cry of "YOUTH" from somewhere in the distance, timed perfectly to destroy his credibility on the issue. Zabuza frowned and looked after the noise. "… not. Although if you wish to avoid zany behavior, you may want to ask Kakashi about a man named Maito Gai."

Zabuza said nothing as he briefly wondered if coming to this village was such a good idea.

* * *

><p>Naruto gaped in disbelief. He was seated at a table in a traditional Japanese restaurant Anko had brought him to after making dragging him along with her on the errands she had at the administrative building. It was a fairly usual establishment; the only thing standing out about it was the red lanterns that hung over the tables.<p>

Unfortunately, the shop didn't sell ramen, so he had what Anko was having: dango and red bean soup with a side of green tea. However, while his food was half eaten, Anko had more empty sticks of dango before her than he was willing to waste time and effort counting. Naruto felt the urge to face-palm. Of course, she liked dango as much as he liked ramen, and ate like it too! Just great.

A wide smile on her face, Anko took a stick of dango and stuck it in her mouth, taking in all three dumplings at once and chewing happily. Though she hadn't forgiven the boy before her, the sweet dumplings did wonders for her mood. "Mmm!" she said as she swallowed. "See kid, what'd I tell you? Nothing better than dango with a side of red bean soup."

Naruto snorted in response. "You must not have tasted the wonderful dish that is Ichiraku Ramen. You'll never be able to convince me that there's anything better than that. As for the dango, it's alright but I prefer the soup." Red bean soup was his second favorite food, next to ramen (all kinds).

"Heh, I've tried that place before, It's good, I'll give you that, but it can't compare to the heavenly taste of dango." Anko responded, her smile becoming somewhat strained.

"I'm eating dango right now, and I'd take ramen over this any day of the week." The Anko glared at the blond, who met her intense stare with his own. Sparks flew from their challenging gaze as they had what would no doubt become a common argument between the two.

Finally, Anko huffed and looked away. "Whatever. You just don't know what's good." She replied before taking another bite, her smile returning as she did. "So, why were you in such a hurry anyway?"

"Hm? Oh, I realized a few books I checked out were going to expire today and…" Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "Crap! I completely forgot!" Then, realization struck him and he hung his head and sighed. Rushing had cost him far more than turning the books in late would have.

Anko tilted her head. "And you were in a hurry because, what, you were afraid you'd forget and get charged late fees?" when he nodded, she snorted. "Heh, well that worked out well, didn't it?"

"Don't remind me…" Naruto grumbled, leaning forward and grasping his head in both hands, his gaze directed towards his food but not really looking at it. A few moments later, he picked up one of his own sticks of dango and took a bite as a silence fell over them. Thinking about his recent troubles, he felt the urge to grimace as he realized two things. 1) He'd gotten himself on the bad side of one of the proctors of the Chunin Exam he'd be participating in, and 2) he'd gotten himself on the bad side of an apparently powerful and slightly insane kunoichi who right now would like nothing more than to teach him a new definition of pain. Realizing it was in his best interest to turn this around, and that he'd be pissed if someone ruined his ramen like he had her dango, though not to the same degree, he began trying to think of ways to rectify this. Two sticks of dango later, a smirk spread across his face as an idea began forming in his mind. Thankful that their senseis had decided to give them tomorrow off, Naruto began to voice his idea. "Say, snake lady."

The woman scowled. "It's Anko!"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto waved his hand. "You're trying to get back at the old man for scolding you and making you do something you don't want to, right?"

The kunoichi raised a brow. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

Naruto's grin widened. "What would you say if I told you I could help you get back at him?"

Anko scoffed and tilted her head, giving the blond a disbelieving look. "Oh yeah, and how would you do that? Whine at him until he caves? Cry him into submission?"

Naruto gave her a slightly annoyed look before looking away and waving his hand. "Just trust me. I know a way to get at the old man, and there won't be a thing he can do about it." he said before bringing his gaze back to her. "So, if I help you out with this, can we call things even?"

The snake summoner seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding. "… Fine. If you can actually pull it off."

"Great. Then meet me tomorrow at, say, 7:00 am on the Hokage monument behind the old man's mug." Anko made a disbelieving sound, obviously fairly certain that this would just be a waste of her time, but nodded all the same. After a few moments of silence, he looked curiously at the purple haired kunoichi. "So, what's with the snakes? I've never heard of a ninjutsu like that before."

"Eh? Seriously?" Anko raised a brow before shrugging. "It's the summoning jutsu kid. It's a space-time ninjutsu that allows the user to call animals or people to their location… though the latter is extremely rare. Actually, I've only heard of one example of a technique like this that applies to humans. Anyway, to summon an animal, you have to sign the contract with the species."

Naruto's usual enthusiasm returned when he heard that and a grin spread across his face. "Really? Wow, sounds useful. Wish I could do that."

"It is… depending on what animal you make a contract with." She said before returning to her dango. "Anyway, I'm not here to teach you. If you want to know more, ask your jonin sensei." Naruto made a mental note to do just that.

Ten minutes later, Anko finally had her fill and called for the bill. As she stood up, Naruto slumped in his chair, staring dejectedly at his wallet, which had gone from nearly bursting at the seams to less than half empty. "Thanks for the dango, kid." Anko walked past him, stopping to give the blond a pat on the back before heading out. "See you around. And I hope for your sake whatever your idea is is good. If not… well, I'm sure your imagination can fill in the blanks." She said, waving without turning back.

"Yeah." Naruto replied half heartedly, still looking at his wallet. After a moment, he pocketed the frog shaped wallet and stood up. He pushed the chair back into place and walked toward the door. Stepping outside, he looked up and saw the sun was sitting just above the horizon, painting the sky red and the clouds a beautiful gold. However, this was lost on the blond. His head shot up when he saw the position of the sun, knowing the library wouldn't be open for much longer. He quickly made his way to the roof and shot off towards his home, determined not to have this cost him anymore than it already had.

* * *

><p>The young Rinnegan bearer stepped out of the library and closed the door behind him, sighing in relief. He'd just barely made it in time. "That was too close. I would've kicked myself if this wound up costing me any more." Naruto thought out loud. Looking to the sky once more, he decided to head home. He'd have liked to head to Ichiraku's, but after his encounter with Anko, he was a bit short on funds, so he decided to hold off on that. Besides, he had just eaten. He supposed it was for the best, as he had a lot of planning to do for tomorrow. If everything went according to plan, he'd have a blast and he might get on Anko's good side.<p>

That in mind, he took the fastest route back to his apartment aside from traveling the rooftops, cutting through alleyway at every opportunity. As he emerged from one such passage, he heard a voice he recognized from his class call out to him. "Eh? Naruto?" Naruto stopped and turned around to see Team 8, sans their sensei, walking down the road. Kiba Inuzuka, the one who'd spoken up, grinned. "Hey, long time no see." His canine companion Akamaru, resting on his usual spot on top of the boy's head, barked a greeting to the blond.

Naruto grinned at seeing his old classmates. "Oh, hey guys. Good to see you."

Hinata Hyuuga stood behind her teammates, only half her body visible from behind the Inuzuka. She seemed to struggle against herself to look at the blond, pushing her index fingers together nervously. "N- Nice to see you too, Naruto." She said, averting her gaze to the ground when the young Uzumaki looked at her.

Naruto gave the timid girl an odd look for a moment, unable to grasp the reason she was unable to meet his eyes. As usual, he just wrote it off as a quirk of hers. She was just dark and weird like that after all.

Turning to look at Kiba again, he asked, "So, what have you guys been up to?"

"Eh, you know, kicking ass and taking names, handling every mission we've been given in record time, that sort of thing." Kiba bragged with a smirk.

"And when precisely have we been kicking ass?" Shino spoke up for the first time, in that ever calm tone of his. "When we guarded that caravan on the way to the Land of Stones? Or perhaps when we investigated dealt those bears that were living close to that village? We haven't done anything yet that warrants such boasting."

Kiba turned to the Aburame with a glare. "Well he didn't have to know that!"

Naruto suppressed a chuckle, covering a grin with his hand. "So, I take it you guys haven't seen any real action yet."

Kiba shrugged and as he put his hands in his coat pockets. "Feh, I wish. It's been pretty boring, really. We had a C-rank mission a few weeks ago, but nothing special happened." He commented, clicking his teeth in annoyance. "How am I going to make a name for myself if I keep getting stuck with these run-of-the-mill jobs?"

Shino's stare once more bore into his teammate. "You shouldn't make wishes so carelessly or go looking for trouble. Why? Because you might get it. What will you do if we find ourselves in a situation we're not ready for because of your glory seeking?"

"Yeah, yeah relax. I'm sure we can deal with whatever comes out way." Kiba replied, waving him off before turning back to Naruto. "So, what's with the glasses? You trying to look cool or something?"

Naruto smirked and brought his hand to the side of his sunglasses, adjusting them slightly. "Nice, huh? A while back, my team and I got attacked during a mission and we were blinded by a flash bomb. I thought it be a good idea to protect my eyes attacks like that, so I got these. Liked 'em so much, I thought I'd wear them all the time." He'd thought of this excuse a while back with his sensei. Kakashi had been impressed that he'd come up with it on the spot. It was true, they would shield his eyes from flash bombs and similar tricks, so it was a believable explanation for his sudden change in style.

Kiba looked slightly surprised, tilting his head to the side and quirking a brow. "Wow… that's actually a pretty good idea, especially coming from you." He said with a laugh. "Last time I heard a good idea from you, you were pulling one of your practical jokes."

Naruto's eye twitched. "What was that?"

Hinata looked back up from the ground, trying her best to look reassuring. "I- I'm sure Kiba didn't mean anything by it…"

"Yeah, at least you've got something your good at." Kiba replied, causing Naruto to growl slightly and shoot him a dirty look while Hinata cast a disappointed look his way. "Anyway, we were heading back home. Kurenai-sensei took us out to celebrate after we finished training today."

The blond blinked, his anger momentarily subsiding upon hearing that as he thought of his own sensei. "Really? Kakashi-sensei almost never does anything like that for us…" He grumbled, his face scrunching up as he crossed his arms. The only time he had was when they'd returned from the mission to Wave. No one could deny the way that situation turned out had warranted a celebration, and even then, Naruto had had to pay for it! He and his teammates had gone to get something to eat together on one other occasion since then, but the jonin hadn't accompanied them.

Kiba smirked. "Maybe you don't deserve it because you guys aren't as impressive as we are." Seeing Naruto glare and step forward, preparing to fire back at him, Kiba continued. "Sasuke was pretty tough, but we aren't in the academy anymore. And face it; you'll always be the dead last."

"Kiba…" Hinata said with a hint of disapproval in her tone.

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled at the Inuzuka, who didn't seem the least bit intimidated. "If you think that, then why don't you put your money where your mouth is? You said it yourself: we're not in the academy anymore! Those days are over! And in case you've forgotten, I'm the guy who's going to be Hokage someday!"

"Ha, you, Hokage?" Kiba replied, amused. "Like anyone who failed the graduation exam could ever be Hokage." He spread his arms in a self affirming gesture. "I've got a better chance at becoming Hokage than you do!"

"Yeah, right! Like the old man would ever let you take the title, dog breath." Naruto shot back, taking another step forward and bringing up a balled fist.

Kiba did the same. "Sorry, what was that? I think I misheard you, dead last!"

"I said how can anyone expect you to lead the village when no one can tell who's calling the shots between you and Akamaru!"

The enraged Inuzuka "Well at least I'm not some punk who's all talk! Remind me again, how it turned out every time we sparred in the academy! Oh right, you wound up flat on your ass!"

Shino gave out an almost inaudible sigh as they argued. Having such a loud hothead as a teammate was so bothersome sometimes. Finally, Hinata stepped forward; unable to watch her teammate and the boy she admired fight any longer. She to them and pushed them apart. "Kiba… please, don't start a fight in the middle of the street."

"Don't worry about it, Hinata. We can take this elsewhere, if he's got the guts." Naruto growled.

Kiba's eyes narrowed before he jerked his head in a dismissive gesture. "Heh, why should I bother? I win, and all I prove is that I'm better than the class loser." He then began walking away before Naruto could retort. "There'll be plenty of opportunities to prove who's top dog around here."

Shino shook his head as he watched Naruto glare at Kiba for a moment before shaking his head. Thinking of how the two were similarly impulsive and hotheaded. They'd either get along or butt heads whenever they encountered each other. He started to walk away, giving a nod as a goodbye to the blond before continuing on his path back to his compound. Naruto was still glowering at Kiba, crouched over slightly with his fist shaking in suppressed rage. "Man that guy pisses me off. Always acting like he's in charge."

"D- don't listen to him, Naruto." Hinata began, causing the blond to turn to her, his anger subsiding. Hinata's eyes fell to the ground and the blush on her face grew slightly as she brought her hands to her chest, almost like she wanted to hide behind them. "Y- you've never been the type to let what others say get to you. Y- you'll prove him wrong. I know it. And even if you fail, you'll just get back up until you succeed." Naruto's expression had become one of shock from Hinata's reassurance. The blue-haired girl once again pushed her index fingers together in a nervous gesture. "That's the kind of person you are, right?"

Naruto blinked before giving her a grin. "Yeah, you're right. Someday soon I'll knock him down a peg! And Sasuke too!" He said before he his grin turned into a smile, a genuine one as opposed to the fake one he usually had plastered on his face. "You know, not many people would have said anything to help me. So thanks, Hinata. I really appreciate what you told me." Hinata, seeing her crush give her such a warm smile and thank her in such a way, stood frozen for a moment, before fainting in a way so cliché, one might think she practiced. Naruto's eyes bugged out before he ran to her. "Hinata! Hey, what's wrong!" He placed his hand on her forehead. "You're face is burning up! Hey, wake up! Hinata!"

* * *

><p>The next morning, Naruto headed to the designated location, wearing his usual clothing and a backpack full of things he'd need for his plan. He felt a little bad about causing the old man trouble, but he wasn't planning to do anything he hadn't done before.<p>

He arrived just a few minutes early. He sighed as he saw no sign of the woman but shrugged, waiting for her wouldn't be half as bad as waiting for his sensei back before the Hokage had convinced (read: threatened) him to break his habit of showing up late, at least when his students were concerned.

Having brought nothing with him to pass the time, the blond lay down, resting his head on his hands, and gazed up at the morning sky. The sun had just begun to rise; its rays painting the clouds a magnificent orange on top of the sky's own dull blue, one could already tell it was going to be yet another beautiful day in the Land of Fire. The blond found watching the morning sky relaxing, the thought briefly making him think of his old classmate, Shikamaru. Though it was nice, how someone could want to spend all day sitting around watching the clouds, he didn't think he'd ever know.

Finally, Anko arrived the moment 7 am rolled around, suddenly leaping up from the cliff and landing a few yards away from him. Naruto got up and dusted himself off as she approached, the woman covering a yawn as she reached the boy. "Alright kid, so what's this plan of yours? And it better be good for getting me out here so early."

The Rinnegan bearer grinned. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the woman seemed to have a lot in common with him. She also seemed to have a playful side. He was sure she'd love his plan, provided those aspects of her were genuine. "First, tell me, exactly how much of the old man's time have you managed to waste so far?"

Anko shrugged before bringing up and rubbing the back of her head as she looked off to the side, thinking of how much trouble she'd caused him. "I don't know… a few hours since he made me a proctor, I guess. And I've annoyed the hell out of him with my methods." She smirked. "Why, what can you do better?"

Naruto's grin widened. "Oh really? What if I told you I could more than double his paperwork?"

Anko raised a brow. "Is that so? Do tell."

"Well, you may have heard this before, but I've got quite the reputation as a prankster."

The snake mistress nodded with a blank expression, not seeing where he was going. "Yeah, I hear painting the Hokage monument was your handiwork." She'd thought that was hilarious. It was too bad the brat had gone and spilled her dango, he seemed like someone she'd enjoy hanging out with.

The blond tilted his head to the side. "Tell me something… who do you think has to clean up the aftermath after a prank's over?" Naruto asked.

Anko shrugged, still not seeing where he was going. "Whoever pulled the stunt if they're caught, or whatever poor bastard owns the property." After that, there was a pause before her eyes widened in realization and she bought her hand to her chin, her expression becoming thoughtful. "But if the property was public, then the village has to clean it up… and all public works, even clean up like that, would have to be approved by the old man."

Naruto nodded. "Not only that, but he also has to read and stamp the damage reports, complaints and things like that caused by every prank." He responded before chuckling and rubbing his hands together. "I was called in once after a pranking spree to find him with a stack of papers taller than he was."

Anko stared at him blankly. "So let me get this straight. Your plan is to go on a pranking spree, hitting as many publicly owned places as you can and in the process create a mountain of paperwork for the old man so large that it will take him all day and possibly all night to get through? Does that about sum it up?" Naruto nodded eagerly and there was a pause… then the woman began chuckling before throwing her head back and brought her hand on her face while laughing out loud. "That's priceless! I can't wait to see the look on his face!" She then took a step towards the blond and patted him on the back. "Kid, you're all right."

Naruto felt a slight sense of relief was over him at knowing he was off the slightly insane woman's bad side. "Thought you'd like it."

* * *

><p>After spending the next several hours getting into all kinds of mischief across the village, Naruto flopped down onto his bed and lied there, now wearing his casual clothing: his tracksuit pants and a short sleeved t-shirt with the leaf village symbol emblazoned on the front.<p>

He closed his eyes and laughed aloud, the memories of every joke he'd played flashing through his mind. He felt a little bad for the old man, but it was nothing he hadn't done before. Still, the paperwork was definitely something he wasn't looking forward to when he took the mantle. He wondered why the Hokage couldn't just relegate it to some else or, if that wasn't possible, have his shadow clones do it for him. That thought brought another round of chuckles. What problem couldn't that jutsu solve?

He sat up, placing a hand on his chin as his expression turned inquisitive. Why hadn't the old man thought of that? Was there some rule that said Kage couldn't use that jutsu? If so, he couldn't think of why. As it wouldn't expend chakra by fighting, a single shadow clone, given a small amount of chakra, could do all the paperwork the Hokage hated so much, and since he'd receive its memories, he wouldn't really miss anything.

"I wonder… if there's not something keeping him from doing it, what the old man would give me if I told him that…?" He thought about it for a moment before chuckling to himself. "Right, I've got to start thinking ahead." He'd wait a few weeks, see if the God of Shinobi figured out what he'd done and tried to make him suffer for it. If so, he'd share his idea with him and see if it was enough to make amends. If not, he'd probably tell him anyway.

Now, the question was, how was he going to spend the rest of his day? He planned to go to Ichiraku's later, but at the moment, he had nothing to do. He fell back and gazed at the ceiling and contemplated how to spend the rest of the day. Suddenly, he sat up again, his eyes lighting up as he recalled the advice Shiho gave him the previous day: to learn how to be a great Hokage by studying those that came before him.

Naruto grinned. He knew that, given who they were, there would probably be a lot about the Hokage that wouldn't be written down anywhere the public and lower ranked ninja could access, if it was written down at all, but anything he could find would not only make for an interesting read, but it might also give him some insight into why they were so revered. And who better to start with than the man who founded the village?

His course of action set, he stood up and headed towards the door.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat at a table in the library, was reading over a biography of Hashirama not noticing the passerby's glares or caring that some obviously didn't want him there. It had been easy enough to find a book on the First Hokage, although, as expected, it, and presumably anything else he could find on the man, left a lot of information out. For the most part, the text only contained his most well known accomplishments, detailing how he founded the village and created the forest around it with his legendary Wood Element, which was the only one of his abilities that was described at all, or how he formed alliances with other villages. All other skills, the events of battles he participated in with a few exceptions like his clash with Madara at the Valley of the End, children he fathered, close associates he had aside from his brother and anything that could in anyway be considered a village secret as this could easily fall into the hands of enemy villages. There was also a similar book on Tobirama Senju, but there were none on the Third or Fourth Hokage. Even that much information wouldn't be open to the public until long after the subject had passed on, and the Fourth hadn't been gone long enough yet.<p>

The young Rinnegan bearer found the First Hokage to be an inspiring figure after learning more about him. From what he was reading, the man was very wise and kindhearted, among the most powerful ninja to ever live, was an inspiration to those who came after him, and saw the people of his village as his family and would, and ultimately did, give his life to protect them. The man was exactly what he wanted to be like when he took the mantle himself. He had just finished the part where the Hokage had attracted other clans to his cause. Naruto briefly got his hopes up, thinking that, even if none of the recent members of his family had it, he had a bloodline, which meant he could be a member of a clan, but, unfortunately for the boy who had never known his family, he found nothing about Uzumaki among the clans that came together to form the village.

While he had been a bit disappointed that he hadn't found any mention of the Uzumaki, he had learned some interesting things, such as the fact that Konoha was actually the first ninja village, and that the Uchiha had formed the village alongside the Senju. That being said, he was starting to lose interest in reading for now and was about to call it a day.

However, as he neared the end of the segment on how the villages were formed, how the fledgling villages united as old rivalries and hatreds from the days of the endless clan wars bled into the village that he came across a passage that would shock him to his core. '_… Alliances were forged between these villages, and, few were stronger than those forged through ties of blood such as the bond created between our village and Uzushiogakure, our closest ally. The bond between our nations was cemented with the marriage between Hashirama Senju and a daughter of Uzushiogakure's most prominent clan: Mito Uzumaki… wait WHAT?_' Naruto froze, his eyes wide open and his breath caught in his throat. He quickly picked the book up off the table and brought it close to his face, scanning the page, reading it over and over again to make sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him.

"I-… I have a clan?" his voice wavering slightly and his hands shaking from the emotions stirred up from his revelation. "I… I have a family? And- and they're at the top of their village?" His breath caught again as that particular line of thought hit him. "A whole different village…" A grin spread across his face as strong feelings of excitement and anticipation coursed through him as he saw that he had stumbled upon something about his own family. Soon, he resumed scouring over the pages, anxious to find out more about his newly discovered relative, grasping at any link to his family. '_Mito Uzumaki, then Mito Senju, proved a devoted wife for Hashirama and a loyal ninja of the leaf. She quickly became one of the most well known and respected figures in the village due to her kind demeanor and mastery of the ninja arts, specializing in her clan's area of expertise: Sealing Jutsu._' The book went on to detail much of the First Hokage's life, detailing his efforts, successes, and failures in his goal of establishing peace, giving an extremely vague recount of his final confrontation with the traitorous Madara Uchiha and ending his death, falling on the battlefield protecting the lives of his fellows. Naruto skimmed over this, paying close attention to the few sections in which Mito appeared, before closing it.

'_I… I can't believe it… my… clan..._' he his mind raced as he finally began to truly think about his discovery, feeling a mix of emotion welling up inside him. Among them was a sense of pride from knowing he was a member of a clan that apparently stood in high regard of a village and joy from finally learning something, even something as small as this, about his family, along with an interest in his clan's apparent specialty, and anything else that would bring him closer to his relatives.

A wide grin broke out across his face as he trembled, barely able to restrain his elation. He had a family! He had a heritage! Possessing the Rinnegan meant he must have been related to the mythical Sage of the Six Paths, but no one really knew anything about the man. He lived so long ago he'd faded into legend. This was something he could grasp onto. He might even have living relatives in this Uzushio.

He leapt up and let out a loud shout of joy… and ignored the inevitable chastisement from the few people who were also in the building. He pumped his fist his fist in victory, but his celebration came to a screeching halt as a thought occurred to him.

He had always hoped to find something, anything, about his family, but now that he had… he had to wonder, why had he never heard of the Uzumaki? If he had such a large and powerful family, why had none of them tried to contact him?

Concern and fear blossomed in his heart as he continued this line of thought. He was probably the only one in the village. As depressing as that was, what truly worried him was the fact that this was the first he was hearing of it. He wasn't exactly a genius, but there weren't that many possibilities as to why that was. He didn't know which possibility was worse: that this had been kept from him, which, given his name wouldn't have helped at all, or the possibility that something had happened to Uzushio and he was the last of his family.

He had been willing to wait until he proved himself to learn about his family, but now that he'd had a taste, he was starving for more. It was more than simply wanting to know more, all the wondering, the sleepless nights where he'd laid awake, asking the silent gods why he was alone with all the hatred surrounding him, wondering if he'd been abandoned by his family for whatever reason he was hated, envying those who were more fortunate, all that emotion had been brought back to the surface and he found himself needing to know.

Naruto began to run towards where he'd hoped to find more about Uzushio but then stopped himself, turned back and grabbed the book before finally bolting, weaving around two people who'd been in his way and ignoring their complaints as he moved back towards the history section before coming to a halt as his eyes scanned the rows upon rows of literature. Now that he'd arrived, it occurred to him; he had no idea where he should look for information on other villages.

After pondering for a moment, his head shot up as the proverbial light bulb went off. Shiho! The girl who'd gotten him interested in this in all this in the first place! She said one of her duties was to be a caretaker for the building. She'd have to know where to find what he was looking for.

He once more ran down the aisles, looking up and down one aisle to the next in search of the blond cryptographer. Finally, he reached the back wall of the room. He turned his head, looking down the aisle on his left with no luck, then to his right… and there she was, standing on a ladder about halfway down the aisle about ten shelves up, carrying a stack of nearly a dozen books she was in the process of putting away.

"Hey, Shiho!" Naruto called out as he reached her, his excitement causing him to briefly forget where he was. Shiho, accustomed to the quiet one would expect in a library, was startled. She jerked and turned in his direction quickly, the fast shift in her weight, combined with that of the books she was carrying, causing the ladder to move and her to rapidly lose her balance. She and the ladder swayed as she struggled to catch herself and not drop the text. In seconds, two books fell off the stack and she leaned forward to try and grab them, loosing what was left of her equilibrium and falling forward off the ladder.

Naruto's expression became panicked as the books, followed by the girl who was carrying them, fell towards him. He tried to catch her and side step the books, but they were spaced too close together for him to avoid and still catch the falling blond. As the books landed on him, one hit him square in the head, throwing him off enough that he was unable brace himself when his fellow blond collided with him, driving him to the ground.

Shiho found herself lying on her stomach on top of the books she'd been carrying. Groaning slightly, she pushed herself up and sat back on her knees and adjusted her glasses which had been knocked off center during all the commotion before dusting her shirt off. Well, that had been embarrassing. And now she had to pick up the text and… wait, hadn't someone been calling her?

Hearing a slight moan from nearby, she looked down and saw a familiar mass of golden blond hair, as well as an arm and legs sticking out from underneath the books she'd landed on.

"Naruto!" she shouted in surprise. "What are you doing down there? Are you ok?"

Naruto just moaned again. Hey, what were you supposed to say when several dozen books and another human being falls on top of you?

* * *

><p>The two blonds were sitting on the floor and had just finished setting the books into two stacks when Shiho turned to the Uzumaki and rubbed the back of her head in an embarrassed manner. "Sorry about that…"<p>

"Don't worry about it, it was my fault." Naruto quickly waved it off, speaking much faster than normal. He leaned forward, placing his hands on the floor. "Listen, Shiho. I need to find something. Where do I go to find information on other villages?"

Shiho blinked. "Other villages?" She said, placing her finger to her chin. It was easy to see how wound up he was, now and when he'd helped her a moment ago. "Yeah, but why? What's got you so anxious?"

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down before beginning to explain. "You remember when you suggested I look up the previous Hokage, right?" When she nodded, he continued. "Well, I did. And I found… well… you know who the wife of the First Hokage was?"

Shiho's brow furrowed at the question, searching her mind for the answer while at the same time trying to see where he was going. "… Mito, I think. Why's that so important to you?"

"Because before she was a Senju, she was Mito Uzumaki!" Shiho was visibly shocked by the answer.

"So, wait, you mean she was a relative of yours?" The cryptographer asked.

Naruto nodded rapidly. "Yeah. Apparently, the Uzumaki are from a village called Uzushiogakure and they're pretty important over there. They were married to bring the villages closer together."

Shiho, now understanding, found this fascinating. Her head turned to the ground as she considered what she'd just learned. "I see. So your family was actually part of a clan from another village." Naruto nodded rapidly, his eagerness returning. After a moment, her eyes widened behind her glasses and her head shot up. "You don't think that Mito was an ancestor of yours, do you?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to be shocked. He hadn't thought of that possibility. After thinking on it, he shook his head. There was no way he was related to one of the Hokages... right? Anyway, even if he was, he wouldn't be able to find out here. "I doubt it, but that doesn't matter right now!" He seemed to calm a bit and the blonde girl could almost feel hopefulness radiating from him. "Shiho… I've never known anything about my family… This is the first chance I've had to find out anything about where I came from. Can you point me in the right direction?"

"Y- yeah, of course." Shiho nodded before her expression turned pensive. "Though I've never heard of Uzushiogakure before… but I know just where to look. I'll help you, but can you wait until I put these away?" She asked, gesturing towards the stacks of books.

Naruto stood up, obviously anxious to move on with his search. "Yeah, but can you hurry?"

* * *

><p>After putting the books away, Shiho led Naruto back to the history section of the library. She ran her index finger across the spines of the books as she searched for the one she had in mind. "Let's see… it should be… Ah! Here it is." She said, plucking the chosen tome from its place and handed it to the young Uzumaki. It was about as thick as a dictionary with a brown cover. "They should be listed here."<p>

Naruto frowned as he read the title of the book. "Clans of the Elemental Continents: the complete compendium, Vol. 2?" He then turned to Shiho, his face scrunched up in it's fox-like fashion not that one could see it due to his sunglasses. "Hey, should there really be something like this just lying around where anyone could pick it up?" Shiho brought a hand to her mouth and chuckled at this, causing his frown to deepen. "What's so funny?"

"Oh come now, if the information in this book was that dangerous, you don't think it'd just be out in the open, do you?" She said, rolling her eyes. "That book details the history and origins of the known clans, which isn't much since they only really started recording history after the villages were formed, and they're relationships with other clans and villages. It's not going to say: 'these are the signature abilities of the clan and how to counter them', or anything like that. The only time it'll even mention a clan's abilities is if it played a role in some major event or if it's world renowned, like how the first Hokage created the forest around the village or the Uchiha and they're Sharingan, and even then it'll only be brief and won't go into detail. This book's only useful to those who have an interest in history. That, or you're planning to deal with a clan who's proud of their heritage and might expect you to know about it. In many cases, there's not much beyond the clan's name and it probably doesn't even cover half the clans out there."

"Oh, I see." Naruto replied before turning and rushing off to the nearest table. "Come on! Let's see what it's got!" Shiho shook her head. Always in such a hurry… well, in this case, she couldn't really blame him. She walked calmly towards him as he sat down and cracked the book open to its index.

"Let's see… here we go! U…" his finger traced the names on the page. There were few names on the list starting with U, and it only took him seconds to go through the whole list… and find nothing. "What the?"

"What is it?" Shiho frowned as she reached him.

"There's nothing here… I don't get it, how can there be nothing? Unless…" He quieted at the end as he realized what it meant.

Shiho looked sympathetically at the boy as she said, "I'm afraid so… if it's not here, then it doesn't exist anymore."

Naruto's eyes widened and he stared at the book, once more trembling in his grip. His gaze burned a hole into the space where his clan's name should be, almost as if he was trying to will it to change. "S- so… you mean, my clan… was destroyed?"

Shiho felt sorry for her friend. She couldn't imagine how much it would hurt to learn about your heritage only to have it ripped away in such a manner. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, Naruto." When Naruto didn't respond, she let out a sigh. She felt bad for him, having wanted to learn about his family for so long only to find out he was alone in the world. She had somewhat expected this. If Uzushio still existed and was as close to Konoha as his findings suggested, she probably would have heard of it as they'd likely have some unique message codes. After a moment, she took the book, causing Naruto to look up at her. "… I'll find an earlier copy of the book. We should find something if we dig deep enough."

Naruto got up and followed her as she went back to the history section and put the book back. Turning back to him, she could see how disappointed the boy was. "Are you ok?" She asked.

Naruto turned back to her and after taking a moment to pull himself together, answered. "Ye- yeah… Let's… let's just keep looking."

"You sure? I mean, we don't know what we'll find." Shiho replied.

Naruto nodded. "I'm sure. I want… no, I _need_ to know."

Looking through the books, he found one of the same series as the compendium from twenty years earlier. Not saying a word, he flipped the book open to the index and checked it, only to slam it shut and sigh. "Nothing, again…" He muttered too quietly for Shiho to hear. His gaze fell to the floor. "They were gone before I was even born…"

"No luck?" Shiho asked and her fellow blond shook his head. She then grabbed the one she'd been looking at, one from fifty years earlier. "All right, let's check this one." Once again, looking to the index, she searched through the U's… and there it was! "Naruto! I found it!"

"What? Let me see!" Naruto said, his enthusiasm returning for the first time since he had discovered his clan no longer existed. Shiho handed him the book and saw what she had. Sure enough, there was the Uzumaki clan. He walked a few steps away, not bothering to return to the table as he flipped open to the appropriate page and his breath caught in his throat. Frowning when she heard this, Shiho stood and looked over his shoulder. Her eyes widened and she gasped slightly.

Staring back at them was a symbol they'd both seen more times than they could count. The red spiral that was on the backs of every Konoha flak jacket and on the back of Naruto's tracksuit, circumscribed in a circle with four inward points in the cardinal directions: the symbol of the Uzumaki clan.

"Hey, isn't that…" Naruto began, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him.

"Yeah… that's the same spiral on the back of our flak jackets." Shiho said with a frown as she inspected the symbol. "Maybe we added their symbol to our armor as a sign of remembrance?"

"Y- you really think so…?" Naruto replied, his tone slightly awed over the possibility and the fact that he'd unknowingly been wearing the symbol of his clan all this time. After staring at the red spiral for a few seconds. "Look at this! The Uzumaki clan: founders of the village Uzushiogakure and the most prominent of the few clans that inhabit the Land of Whirlpools" He looked up at the slightly surprised girl, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. "D- did you hear that? They weren't just high up in Uzushio, they built the village!" He said before putting his nose back in the book. He rapidly read through the entry, soaking up every bit of information as he became deaf to the world, all his attention on the book in his hands. He continued reading, learning how the people of Uzushiogakure, and the Uzumaki especially, were known for their vitality and long lives, earning the village the nickname: the village of longevity, more about the clan's sealing talents and that the spiral from the Uzumaki clan symbol, which was emblazoned on the flak jackets of Konoha, was actually used for the symbol of the village. Soon, he reached the section on the alliance between Uzushio and Konoha, and his already gleaming smile grew. "Shiho, Shiho! Look at this!" he said excitedly, pointing to a portion of the page.

Shiho looked at the part he indicated and read. What she saw floored her. "The Uzumaki clan… splintered off from the Senju clan?"

"Can you believe it? No wonder they were so close!" Naruto replied before he turned back to the book. He turned the page and saw a picture of a man he recognized as Hashirama Senju, standing with a group of several members of his clan in front of a banner that bore their symbol. Standing across from them were the Uzumakis before their own banner, but what he saw made Naruto frown. They didn't look anything like him. All the Uzumaki had fair skin and long red hair, as opposed to his tan features and spiky blond hair, though on closer inspection, there was some resemblance in facial structure. He wondered why he looked different, but realized he probably inherited his appearance from the other side of his family. After staring at the picture for a few moments, idly wondering how he'd look if he looked more like the rest of the Uzumaki, and went back to reading.

The blond sighed in slight disappointment as he reached the end of the entry. A lot of the information had been vague or missing bits and pieces. There'd only been four pages, for crying out loud! Flipping back to the first page of the entry and staring at his clan symbol as Shiho stopped looking over his shoulder. After a few moments of silence, the cryptographer spoke, "So… how do you feel? Better?"

The Rinnegan bearer sighed once more. "… I don't know. It's great knowing where I came from, and I'm proud that my ancestors were such amazing people… but, they're all gone… I never even knew them… and it seems like they've been… forgotten."

"Sorry there wasn't better news." She replied. "I'll look around and see if there's anything else on them, ok?"

Naruto gave a grateful smile. "Thanks, Shiho."

"No problem. This is fascinating; I can't believe I'd never heard of any of this before now." She then placed a finger to her chin and hummed.

Naruto looked at her curiously. "What is it?"

Shiho frowned. "Nothing. It's just… Now that I think of it, I've never heard of the Land of Whirlpools before…"

Naruto raised a brow and tilted his head. "Well, it's not like you've memorized the names all the nations, right?" Shiho shook her head. "Why don't we check an atlas? I'd like to see where Uzushio is… or was." He hadn't seen any direct confirmation, but he knew Uzushio was probably gone too. If they were still around and such close allies, they'd probably have heard of them, although there was the small possibility they'd simply grown apart without the two clans, the fact that the ninja of Konoha were wearing the symbol of the village and the Uzumaki were all but forgotten painted a bleak outlook for the fate of the village.

He didn't really know how to describe how he felt about this. It was… nice. It didn't make him any better than he was before, what did it matter if your ancestors were great if you didn't live up to their example? But it felt comforting to finally know his heritage, especially given who his ancestors were. The problem was that the more he found out the more he wanted to know!

Shiho nodded. "Good idea." She went to retrieve a map of the Elemental Continents while Naruto turned back to the book and began rereading the section on the Uzumaki. He briefly thought about reviving his clan in Konoha if he ever found himself in a real relationship someday. He couldn't stand the thought that they'd been forgotten.

Shiho returned with an atlas and the two sat down at a table and cracked it open, only to be shocked when they looked at the list of countries and found the Land of Whirlpools wasn't listed. "I- it's not there." Naruto began. "Don't tell me… was the entire country destroyed?"

"Looks like it…." Shiho responded. "We need an earlier copy." She left to find just that, followed by Naruto who tucked the book on clans under his arm. Finding what they were looking for, an atlas from around the same time as the book, they checked the map and located Uzushio. It was a very small island nation just off the east coast of the Land of Fire. "It's such a small country… no wonder. The nation's economy probably relied on Uzushiogakure. Its loss, together with the damage such a war would've caused would basically be a death sentence for the nation."

Naruto contemplated "Do you think anyone still lives there?"

The messy haired blonde frowned and cupped her chin in thought. "Possibly… but I doubt it. Look here." Her finger circled the nation, trailing over several spiral shapes. "The island lives up to its namesake. It's surrounded by whirlpools. I'm guessing it required either powerful water jutsu or a ship manned by an extremely skilled crew to navigate such dangerous waters. There might be people who couldn't afford passage off the island, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to live there now that the country's gone. Any survivors of the nation or the village probably scattered across the continent." A thought occurred to her. "And there's always the chance that some of the Uzumaki managed to escape. Who knows? Maybe your mother or father was one such survivor."

Naruto's expression became hopeful again. "Really? You think so?"

"Maybe. I mean, whoever destroyed the village obviously didn't get everybody. Maybe you'll run into a relative of yours someday."

Naruto smiled at that, thinking of meeting a member of his clan, of actually having a family. As he continued down that line of thought, his expression then became thoughtful when he realized how much he still _didn't _know. He didn't even know which side of his family he just researched. He'd found out a lot, but he still wasn't satisfied. His head jerked up when it occurred to him that Kakashi could probably tell him… the question was _would_ he tell him and how much information could he share without saying too much? The blond stood up, picking up the books and rushing off to check them out. "Hey, I've got to go. Thanks for the help! I owe you one!" he called over his shoulder.

Shiho waved at him. "See you. I'll find you if I uncover anything else about your clan."

* * *

><p>Naruto ran outside the building, through the gate in the wall that surrounded the academy and quickly leapt up the wall of the nearest building onto the roof and came to a stop on the center of the structure, his eyes roaming over the village. After a moment, he crossed his arms and looked down, frowning in concentration.<p>

"Damn it… where would Kakashi-sensei be?" This was frustrating. Whenever he'd needed the man until now, it had been during their training or missions, or he could put it off until such time. He didn't know his sensei's habits. The team had shared their residences with each other in case they needed to be found quickly for whatever reason. That was an obvious starting point, but somehow, he doubted he'd find him there. Aside from that, the next most likely place would probably be the memorial stone.

What else did he know about his sensei that might be some clue as to his whereabouts? His frown deepened for a moment before his head snapped up. Of course! He was always reading that orange book! Anywhere he could buy it would be another good place to search.

Making a familiar cross shaped hand sign, four copies of the blond burst into existence in a cloud of smoke. Turning his head to shift his gaze over all of the gathered doppelgangers, Naruto simply said. "Alright, you all know what to do. Let's move." With that, the five of them scattered.

The real Naruto quickly leapt from building to building, quickly arriving at his sensei's apartment building. Standing before it, he crossed his arms and tilted his head back, his eyes moving to the sky. "Now, what was his room number again?" After racking his brain for a few moments, snapped his fingers as he recalled that the masked jonin stayed in room 245. Jumping off the roof he was standing on and landing in a slight crouch, he ran into the building, up the stairs and found Kakashi's room. He brought his hand up and slammed the bottom of his hand against the door. "Kakashi-sensei!" No answer.

He stared at the door for a few moments, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently as he stared anxiously. Certain that his sensei wasn't there, he rushed out of the building.

As he stepped outside the complex, he suddenly received the memories of one of his clones. He cursed under his breath, Kakashi wasn't at the memorial stone. The others were checking every book store that might carry Kakashi's precious book, training ground and restaurant. Focusing chakra into his legs, he leapt up to the roof of a nearby building in a single bound and shot off to join his clones in their search.

Hours later, he sat on the roof one of the cylindrical buildings, looking down on the village as twilight began to fall and wondering where his sensei was.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to him from behind. "Yo." The blonds' eyes widened and he quickly spun around to find who else but Kakashi standing behind him at the center of the roof.

"Kakashi-sensei?" He said, standing up in shock.

"Hey. I hear you've been looking for me."

"How'd you know that?"

"Even though I've left your training to others, I've still been keeping an eye on you and Sakura." The jonin explained. "For example, I know you've been spending time at the library. I'm glad to see you're starting to realize how helpful books can be."

Naruto smiled, though Kakashi noted there was a hint of sadness. "Yeah, you can really learn a lot from old books, even if they can be boring." He then looked up at his sensei. "For example, I've been reading about the first Hokage."

Kakashi tilted his head to the side. "The first Hokage?" the copy ninja mused, wondering where his student was going with that before it clicked and a look of realization came across his sole visible eye. "Ah, you found out about Lady Mito, I take it?"

"Yeah. And about my family." He began. "Why wasn't I ever told I was a member of a clan?"

Kakashi shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. "I can't say really. Maybe it was thought it might go to your head. There was also the fact that nothing of the Uzumaki remain aside from their name, as far as I know, which means little without anything else to go with it. And as I'm sure you know, though they were strong allies and related to the Senju, they weren't a Konoha clan. Not many in our village know who they are; I'm sure none of your friends do."

The blond sighed and sat down, looking out on the village. After a few moments, Kakashi stepped forward and sat down near him. "I'm afraid Uzushiogakure was destroyed before my time. There's not much I can tell you that you couldn't find out from the library. What do you already know?" Naruto told him everything he found out. "I see. That's pretty much all I could tell you. The only thing I can think of that was left out was that they weren't only the best seal masters, but also created their own unique sealing style, but as far as I'm aware, the last who knew of those arts are gone."

Naruto was silent for a moment before, taking a calming breath and turning to Kakashi, the question he was about to ask had been burning in his mind since he discovered his clan's fate. "Kakashi-sensei… Why… why was my clan destroyed? What did they do?"

Kakashi scrutinized the blond for a few seconds, uncertain how he would take the answer. "Are you sure you want to know?" Slightly hesitantly Naruto nodded. "… Fine, but you're not going to like the answer." Waiting a moment to see if Naruto would change his mind, Kakashi sighed and looked out onto the village as he gave his answer, "The answer is… nothing."

Naruto blinked and his mouth fell open, not certain he'd heard his teacher right. "W- what?"

"They did nothing, Naruto." Kakashi replied. "The Uzumaki were among the most powerful clans in all the nations, comparable to the likes of the Senju and Uchiha clans, and their sealing jutsu made them extremely dangerous enemies, to the point that they were feared across the nations because of their abilities. Not only that, but most ninja of Uzushio were seal masters, though not to the same level as the Uzumaki, and the basics of the Uzumaki's style were taught to all shinobi of the village who mastered the art, though of course the clan kept the most advanced and powerful arts to themselves." His gaze returned to his student. "Naruto, let me ask you a question. What is the difference between the great ninja villages and the minor ones?"

Naruto made a surprised sound, caught off guard by the change in subject. Seeing the Sharingan wielder was going somewhere with this, he tilted his head up and thought for a moment. "Well, obviously they minor ones are smaller…." He hummed. "Do we have better ninja?"

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. There are three reasons the minor villages are so much weaker than the great ones. The first is simple: population. The second is that, though there are exceptions as there usually are with everything, their ninja aren't as skilled. Few minor villages had anyone capable of comparing to the Kage and generally, ninja from minor villages tend to be weaker than ninja of the same rank from major villages. The third is wealth. Since they're fewer in number and not as good, they're not as successful with missions and aren't hired as often. Because of this, more jobs go to the great villages and our villages have larger operating zones." He closed his eye, brought his right hand out of his pocket and held it in an instructive gesture. "Uzushio was unique. They're shinobi were comparable, if not stronger, than those of the great villages, and between their effectiveness and the unique seals they sold to other nations, they were quite wealthy. The fact that they were among the smallest villages was the only reason they were a minor village." Naruto listened closely as the jonin's eye opened and his gaze fell upon his again. "Our enemies feared what would happen if Uzushio should ever gain a large enough population to become the sixth great ninja village. They would have stood little chance between the united front formed by Uzushio and our village." He then sighed as he got to the end of his explanation. "So, the leaders of Iwa and Kumo decided that it was too much of a risk. In the time of peace that preceded the Third Shinobi World War, they came together and launched a surprise attack on Uzushio… It was over before we even had a chance to lend them aid."

"…" Naruto looked down to the rooftop, not moving for a few moments. His mouth pressed into a thin in line and his hands clenched into tight fists as he processed what he'd just been told. Finally, he spoke, "You're telling me… my clan and their village were wiped out… because they were a _potential threat_?" his last words came though gritted teeth.

"Yes." Kakashi said flatly, seeing no way to sugar coat it.

The Rinnegan bearer could hardly believe it. His family and everything they built were destroyed, because of what they _might _do if allowed to grow. He trembled as he tried to suppress his emotions. His sensei watched as the blond calmed himself down and waited for him to speak. "Kakashi-sensei."

"Hm?"

"Can you tell me about my parents?"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto… you remember what the Third told you. It's an S-class secret, only he can tell you what you want to know." Seeing the crestfallen look on the blonds' face, he added. "Come now, cheer up. With my help, along with Zabuza and Haku's, I'm sure you'll be chunin material by the exams. Then you'll hear all about it." He was quite certain that the Hokage was planning to tell him either way as long as he proved himself mature enough to know it, but why remove the added motivation?

The blond was quiet again. After a few moments, he spoke up. "You know… when I was a kid, I used to watch other kids with their parents. I would always wonder what that's like and ask myself where my parents were." He began, turning to Kakashi. "For years, I even thought that… that they might have abandoned me, for whatever reason everyone seemed to hate me for." Kakashi's eye widened at that. Naruto turned to him, the almost pleading expression he wore showing exactly how painful not knowing was for him. A brief glimpse into the side he hid away from the villagers. "Now I finally know something about my family… but… is there anything you can tell me? Anything at all?"

The jonin closed his eye and after a moment, spoke up. "I'm sorry Naruto, I can't tell you who they were." Naruto looked to the ground dejectedly. "But…" the blond quickly turned to him, his eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses filled with hope. "I suppose I could tell you some things about them, as long as I avoid anything that might give away their identities. Is that good enough for now?" Kakashi asked, giving him his eye smile.

Naruto's face lit up, his smile almost seemed wide enough to split his face in half. "R-Really? You mean it?" When Kakashi nodded, he asked, "Did… did you know them?"

Kakashi nodded. "I did, though I won't be able to tell you how. Now let's see, where should I start?… I guess what you'd like to hear most, that I can tell you anyway, is what kind of people they were, right?" Naruto nodded quickly, anxiousness clear on his features. "Well to start with, your father was a highly respected man, and not just because of his skill as a ninja. He was always calm and was very perceptive and a very shrewd person. He was always respectful to those around him, and was known for his unbelievable drive and determination, a trait he seemed to have passed on to you. He loved this village and your mother a great deal. His favorite hobby was reading, whether the subject was fictional, historical or the ninja arts."

Naruto was hanging on every word. "And… and mom?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Your mother was actually a lot like you." He paused for a second, enjoying the look of shock on the blonds' face before he continued. "She was a cheerful and energetic woman, and I heard she was quite the tomboy in her youth. You inherited her love of pranks, as well as her adoration of ramen." A genuine smile spread across the Rinnegan bearer's face when he heard that. Kakashi then cupped his chin and looked to the sky. "I remember she had a nickname, but I can't remember what it was…" This was a lie. He could remember the nickname and the story behind it perfectly. After all, 'Red-hot Blooded Habanero' fit her so well and the story behind it was hard to forget, but he didn't know who else might remember it, and therefore who might figure out his parents identities and let it slip if the boy were to mention that nickname. "I remember it had to do with her temper. She was quite famous for it."

Naruto shivered slightly, thinking of Sakura's temper. "R-really?"

"Really." The copy ninja replied flatly, slightly amused by his student's reaction. "Though she had calmed down considerably by the time I met her, she could terrify even the strongest of ninja when angered." He paused before continuing. "Her temper was as famous as her beauty. She was also quite fearless, willing to fight and defend her comrades against impossible odds. Something she shared with your father." He said, before turning back to Naruto. "As I'm sure you can tell from what I've told you, I see a lot of both of them in you." Naruto gave a small smile at that, though Kakashi's next words caused his expression to drop. "Sorry, but I think that's all I can say, for now."

Naruto was silent as he reflected on everything he'd just heard. Finally, after all this time, all that wondering, he knew something about his parents. Not as much as he'd like, but something. Hearing that he'd inherited so much from them made him feel happier than he could remember, though that was tempered by everything else he'd been through in the past few hours. While he was glad to learn what he did, he felt drained. And the joy from learning about them and his family was dampened by the knowledge that they were all gone.

He wanted to know more: who they were, what they looked like, what they did to earn the respect and renown they apparently had… how they died, but he could tell from the sympathetic look in Kakashi's eye that he wouldn't be hearing anymore today. "Alright." He said quietly.

The Sharingan bearer stared at the young Uzumaki for a few minutes, trying to discern what he was feeling, but finding his expression utterly unreadable. "Are you alright? This is probably a lot to take in."

After a few seconds, Naruto turned back to the copy ninja with a wide smile. "Are you kidding? I just found out so much I've been wondering about for years and learned I come from a long line of incredible ninja! Of course I'm alright! I'm better than alright! I feel great! Thanks for telling me all that, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi gave him his eye-smile. "You're welcome." He replied, though he noticed something. Something no one who didn't truly know Naruto would notice.

His smile was fake.

It was the same happy smile Naruto wore when he didn't want anyone to know how much something hurt him. That he wore whenever he failed or the villager's hateful glares got to him and he didn't want those remotely close to him to notice. Knowing that everything he'd just learned had probably taken its toll on him, the masked jonin made an offer he was sure would cheer him up. "Hey, you feel like some ramen? My treat."

Naruto shook his head. "No thanks." He replied getting up. "I think I'll just head home now." He said as he started walking away.

Kakashi's eye widened slightly at that. He was refusing free ramen? This must have gotten to him more than he'd thought. As Naruto neared the edge of the roof, the silver haired man called out to him. "Naruto." The blond turned back to him. "There is one last thing I have to tell you about your parents. I want you to know, I'm absolutely certain that your tenant wouldn't have affected how they viewed you. I'd never seen them happier than they'd been when they found out they were going to be parents. They would have loved to get to know you, and they would be proud of you, for how you're growing and who you are now. And don't let anything make you believe otherwise."

Naruto stood, frozen in shock for a few moments before another of his rare, genuine smiles spread across his face. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

><p>After making it home, Naruto spent the rest of the night in kind of a haze and found himself lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with his arms spread at his sides. His purple ringed eyes somewhat dull and lacking the life that usually filled them.<p>

All the ups and downs he'd experienced in the past few hours; learning what he had about his family and their fate, all in such a relatively short amount of time, had left him drained.

His family… gone before he was even born. His heritage was lost and his clan basically forgotten.

He blinked, life starting to return to his purple pools. What was he doing moping like this? This wasn't him. What good would it do to sit around depressed, that wouldn't change anything. His clan may be gone… but like hell he'd just let them be forgotten! His ancestors were counting on him, and any other Uzumaki survivors out there, to carry on their name, and he wasn't about to let them down.

A grin broke out across his tan features and his hand clenched, this time in determination as a new goal formed in his mind. He would revive his clan and make sure everyone remembered it. He'd make sure his parents and his ancestors were proud of him. He'd revive his clan, carry on their legacy as best he could and make sure no one forgot their name again. The best part was that it fit into his original plans. What better way to make his name known throughout the Elemental Nations than to become Hokage?

And maybe… just maybe… if he made a big enough name for himself, other survivors might hear of it and come out of hiding.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that it. As always, please review and no flames.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey. Here's the next chapter of Jinchuriki of the Six Paths. Sorry to disappoint, but it's another training chapter. Good news, however, this chapter concludes the training arc. Next chapter begins the chunin exams arc.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Naruto ran through the trees on the outskirts of the village, a wide grin etched onto his face as he approached the training ground his team so frequently made use of. Beneath his sunglasses, his ringed eyes gleamed with excitement.<p>

Why was he so eager this morning, one might wonder. It was because the previous day, he'd had a breakthrough. Finally, after weeks of fruitless effort, he'd at last made some progress with the Rinnegan's powers.

Ever since he'd learned about his heritage a month ago, he'd been even more determined and enthusiastic about training. No longer did he show even slight fear or hesitation no matter what insane training routine Zabuza had come up with, which only grew more intense as time went on. He'd also started spending more time in the library, though he found little else about his clan.

Speaking about his once great lineage, after he discovered what little of his clan's history could be found in the library, he had quickly decided that he wanted to live up to his heritage by mastering the art of sealing jutsu. It was his clan's greatest claim to fame, after all.

When he asked Kakashi to teach it to him, the Sharingan wielding jonin hadn't been surprised, in fact he'd been expecting it, but he'd wanted to make a few things clear before they got started. Firstly, this wasn't going to be easy. Sealing jutsu was the most complex form a ninja arts, and few ever managed to truly master it. Second, he shouldn't expect this to help him during the chunin exams. According to the silver haired man, he'd be lucky if he even managed to master the basics by the time the exams started. And third, though he could learn and master sealing jutsu, chances were that he would never be able to recover his clan's famed style.

That had been no problem to Naruto. He had never been one to fall in the face of adversity, and though he was a bit disheartened that part of his family's legacy had been lost, he still wanted to master the art to live up to their name. And so Kakashi gave him two books, one that described the art in detail and another that taught the basics.

Naruto had been a bit dismayed to find out what learning the obscure art entailed, though it didn't deter him in the least. It was almost like learning an entirely new language, an extremely complex one at that, where the characters had to be intricately woven together along with various designs, shapes and patterns to basically write out what one wanted to happen and, as with some ninjutsu, a single mistake could result in whatever you were trying to make literally blowing up in your face. But from what he read if one could do with it, it was well worth the effort, even if he weren't absolutely hell bent on one day mastering it to carry on his clan's heritage. He could see why his ancestors were feared, now that he had a better idea of what a master could do.

Then again, sealing jutsu was what stopped the Kyuubi, right? It should be expected that something that can stop a being capable of creating earthquakes and tsunamis with a mere flick of its tails would have to be extremely powerful.

When Kakashi quizzed him on what he'd learned a week earlier, the masked jonin had been impressed. The blond seemed to take to the art like a fish to water, or so he said. Though at the rate he was going, Kakashi's original prediction would hold true: he wouldn't be able to make anything beyond the most basic of seals by the time the exams began. After all, they only had a few weeks left to polish off their skills.

Finally, he approached the Third Training Ground and slowed to a stop. Stepping out of the tree line, he looked around and neither saw nor sensed any sign of anyone else present.

Realizing he'd gotten there first, Naruto turned towards the three training posts and headed towards them. Stopping in front of them, he briefly thought of the day he, Sakura and Sasuke officially became a team. With a smirk, he wondered how the three of them would fair in a bell test now.

Shaking his head at the memory, he sat down with his back to the post and reached into his pouch, pulling out his book on sealing jutsu. He found he enjoyed learning his clan's art, so he preferred to read about it himself than leave it to his clones. It also helped that he needed to be the one to practice drawing the seals himself. Shadow clones didn't transfer muscle memory, so while he could learn seals and jutsu through them, he'd have to practice them himself if he wanted to get any faster at drawing the seals or making the signs. Zabuza had actually forced him to begin practicing rapidly making hand signs in various patterns because his speed at making them was, as the masked jonin put it, abysmal.

Ten minutes passed and the blond had taken out a blank paper tag and practiced drawing a seal. Just as it neared completion, he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up to see his sensei step into the clearing, his nose buried in his orange book.

"Hey, about time you showed up, Kakashi-sensei." The Rinnegan bearer said, no longer surprised by his sensei showing up on time.

"Good morning, Naruto." The jonin greeted. "You're here early. Any particular reason, or did you just want to practice your sealing jutsu out here before we get started?"

Naruto shot up with an excited grin. "Yeah, I've got something amazing to show you guys."

"Oh?" Kakashi responded, intrigued.

The blond gave a slight chuckle as he adjusted his glasses, a sign they'd come up with for when Naruto wanted to talk about his dojutsu. "I've finally made some progress with _that_."

"That so?" Kakashi replied, his expression remaining impassive as usual, belying his interest. "If it's alright with you, let's wait until the others show up for the demonstration."

The blond nodded. "You got it. That's what I was planning anyway." he said before going back to his tag. He was anxious to show off his new technique, but he wanted all of his teammates to see it.

Kakashi walked over to his student and looked down over his shoulder. "What are you making?" When he saw the seal, he quirked a brow. "An explosive note? Don't you think that's a bit dangerous to make so early in your training?"

The young Uzumaki looked back at him and shrugged. "Eh, it's just a fake. It's good practice and it can be useful. Besides, I'd rather not risk making a real one yet." Of course, he planned to have some clones practice making them soon… far away from him.

The Sharingan wielder nodded, glad his student was smart enough to not get ahead of himself. A lot of would-be seal practitioners injured themselves that way.

"Say, Kakashi." The blond began, his gaze becoming curious.

"Hm?"

Naruto's expression became scrutinizing, his face scrunching up like a fox's. "I've been wondering… what exactly is that book you're always reading?" Kakashi's expression didn't change, but inside he became slightly uncomfortable. Despite his great fondness (borderline worship) of the series, he was actually a bit embarrassed by discussing such content.

"Why would you want to know that?"

The blond shrugged slightly. "Well, I just thought it must be good if you're always reading it. I mean, you've been reading either that book or one that looked almost like it every day since we met." He turned slightly and leaned towards his sensei. "So, what's in it?"

The masked jonin took a step back. "Uh… Nothing special… I'm sure you'd be much more interested getting back to your book on sealing jutsu."

"Aw come on, why won't you tell me?" Naruto asked in a slightly childish manner before something occurred to him. His expression became slightly accusing as he said, "Or maybe is it something you've got no business reading in public?"

"Do you really have so little faith in me, Naruto?" Kakashi responded impassively.

Naruto smirked slightly, easily able to see through his sensei's attempt to deflect. "Then why don't you show it to me?"

"…"

Naruto shot up and pointed his finger at the jonin accusingly. "Aha! Got you! You're a pervert just like the old man, aren't you Kakashi-sensei?"

The Sharingan wielder raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Now, now, calm d…" he stopped as something his student said hit him. "Wait, what do you mean, 'just like the old man'?"

Naruto's mood shifted completely as he quickly got over the revelation of his sensei's perverted side. The boy gained a mischievous smirk and chuckled slightly, looking very much like the cat that ate the canary. "Well, aside from the fact that I remember seeing him read the same book, do you remember that time I was tricked into stealing the forbidden scroll?" Kakashi nodded. "Well, the old man caught me, but I knocked him out in a second with my sexy jutsu."

"Sexy jutsu?" Kakashi quirked a brow. When the blond described the technique to him, the jonin simply responded with "I see." and buried his face back in his book… though it did little to hide his amusement as his shoulders shook slightly with suppressed laughter.

The Third Hokage… the man whose immense skill and abilities had earned him the same title held by the mythical Sage of the Six Paths: 'God of Shinobi'… who had the second longest tenure of all Kage… taken down by a 12 year old with a technique made to incapacitate perverts through massive blood loss.

Simply hilarious.

* * *

><p>It was only a short while after the previous exchange that the others began to arrive. Soon, the group had gathered together deeper in the forest, Naruto standing off on his own while the others stood together, all interested to see this demonstration of the Rinnegan's abilities.<p>

While Kakashi, as always, had a neutral expression, the others were all watching with varying degrees of concentration and there one could feel slight tension in the air. Sakura was obviously eager to see the display. After all, it wasn't everyday you caught a glimpse of the power that earned a man a title like 'God of Shinobi'. And unlike the Third Hokage, who also bore that title, the Sage of the Six Paths supposedly truly lived up to it. Zabuza's eyes were narrowed slightly and his arms folded as he waited to see the power that so easily bested his protégé. Haku's expression was almost as unconcerned as Kakashi's. But then again, he'd had a first hand experience of what those eyes were capable of.

However, the most attentive was Sasuke. The raven haired boy was completely focused on the sight before him. His eyes narrowed slightly as his irises bled red, his Sharingan, each now bearing two tomoes, activating almost subconsciously as he waited to observe the power possessed by his unacknowledged rival. Power he was growing more and more jealous of each time it outshined his own clan's powers. He couldn't stand being second, being in someone else's shadow.

Not after living in his brother's shadow for so long. Never again.

Ten feet before the blond sat a large stone about twice of the size of Jinchuriki. Naruto, his sunglasses off and his legendary dojutsu revealed to the world, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his purple ringed orbs and activating them. He raised his hand, his open palm directed towards the stone and spoke the words that had echoed from deep within his subconscious when he first succeeded in using this technique. Its name, engraved into the genetic memory of his bloodline, "Shinra Tensei!"

The result was instantaneous. The heavy stone was ripped out of the ground, carving a path in the earth as it was uprooted, and flung away like a speck of dirt in a windstorm. It hit a tree, the force of propelling it combined with its mass causing it to tear a chunk out of the side of the wood before it vanished into the forest. They all heard a crash as it impacted with another stone object far away. From the sound, they either cracked or shattered.

This display brought out various reactions from the observers as the blond grinned at his handiwork. Sakura's eyes widened in shock at how quickly and easily such a heavy object had been thrown away. It wasn't lost on anyone there how easily a human could be sent flying by such a force. Kakashi and Haku remained impassive, though the one-eyed jonin did notice that Sasuke's hand clenched slightly. Zabuza gave an impressed whistle as he stared after the large rock before turning back to the blond. "Impressive. Not only is it powerful, but also extremely versatile. It could be used to cause some serious damage or, depending on how it can be used, a nearly impenetrable defense."

Naruto who was walking over to the group, grinned. "Tell me about it. I spent all night thinking about different ways I could use it."

Zabuza nodded approvingly before turning to pupil. "Haku, what do you think?"

Haku frowned thoughtfully, his keen and analytical mind going over everything he knew about the technique, before he spoke. "It would certainly be a difficult power to overcome. To pull things towards the user and push them away with such force it could shatter even my ice mirrors… it seems that its ability is a form of gravity manipulation."

"Good observation. I reached the same conclusions." Kakashi said as he stepped forward, his book absent for once. "Zabuza wasn't exaggerating when he bragged about your observational skills." He commented before turning to the blond. "Combine that with the innate abilities they grant, and you can see why the Rinnegan's power is so revered. Have you made any progress with the other power we know of?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "No, I haven't made any headway with pulling things towards me yet."

The masked jonin shrugged. "Don't worry about it. You've made impressive progress, especially considering that all you have to go on is what Haku told us about your fight. You should probably gain more experience with that technique before trying to learn something new anyway."

"Yeah, I thought so too." Naruto replied, placing his hands behind his head. "So what're we up to today?"

"Hold on. Before we get started, there's something I'd like to share with you guys." Kakashi interjected, looking to his students. Seeing their slightly curious gazes, he continued. "It's a story of a battle I was in when I was about your age."

"Eh? A story from your youth?" Sakura asked, interested to hear what her sensei had to tell them. Considering his reputation, it would almost certainly be exciting. It might even have taken place during some major event in the village's history.

"Hn. What's the point in having a history lesson now?" Sasuke spoke up.

Naruto's thoughts were in line with Sakura's. "Ah, come on Sasuke, this should be good. A wily old veteran like Kakashi has to have tons of amazing adventures under his belt."

The older Sharingan wielder sweat dropped. "… Was I supposed to take that as a compliment? I happen to be quite young, you know."

"You're not old until you have gray hair and your regrets outweigh your achievements." Zabuza stated. He was curious about what it was Kakashi wanted to tell his students, since it almost certainly involved a lesson he learned the hard way. That aside, from what he knew they were around the same age and he didn't appreciate being called old either. "Now get on with it."

"Well, someone's impatient. Fine." Kakashi mused before turning his head to look at his students. "This actually happened back when I was around your age."

"Really? So this was back when you were a genin like us?" Naruto stated before his expression morphed into a questioning one when Kakashi chuckled in response. "What's so funny?"

"When did I say I was a genin when I was your age?" Kakashi questioned, amusement clear in his eye. He was sure he would enjoy their reaction to this. "Actually, at that time, I had just made jonin."

Naruto jerked back from as all three of genin's jaws dropped. Naruto seemed the most surprised going by their facial expressions, but the reaction that was most amusing for Kakashi was Sasuke's. It was always funnier when stoic, impassive types like him were shocked speechless. "Wha- What? You were a jonin when you were our age?"

"That's right." Kakashi confirmed with an eye smile.

Sasuke once again clenched his fist at the new knowledge once he recovered. His sensei had already made jonin at their age? Then what were they doing? Why was he progressing so slowly, unlike Kakashi and his brother? It was another reminder of how far he had to go.

He had devoted his life to avenging his clan. It was the main purpose for his continued existence. But… if he couldn't even come close to the level of strength that his brother and their sensei had at his age, how was he going to accomplish that lofty goal?

That was the heart of the reason he was slowly becoming jealous of Naruto's growth rate as well. The blond may have had the Rinnegan, and whether or not he was the same dead last from the academy, he couldn't possibly have the same level of natural talent as his brother. The man was a rare breed of genius. Everything, no matter how complex or difficult, came easy to the elder Uchiha sibling.

The gap between Naruto and Sasuke's strength was slowly closing, and that was what unnerved the young Uchiha the most as it made him question not only his own strength, but also his dream… How was he ever going to catch up to his brother if he couldn't even stay ahead of his teammate? The closer Naruto came to his level, the farther away his ambition seemed to become. And this revelation about Kakashi didn't help.

Sakura, still reeling slightly from the shock, spoke up. "Bu- but how can that be? Iruka-sensei told us that the minimum age to graduate from the academy was 10!"

Kakashi nodded. "It is… in times of peace." At that answer, his students calmed themselves and listened closely. Kakashi closed his eye and explained. "When I grew up, tensions were high between our village and Iwa. There was an unprecedented decline in national power, weakening the strength of the Five Great Villages and skirmishes with the minor villages were frequent. Everyone felt that war was just over the horizon, and sadly, they were right. During such times, the academy cuts back on history lessons and the like and focuses on ninja skills. They pass you along to a jonin-sensei the moment you have the necessary abilities." He opened his eye and his gaze swept across the teens. "You should be thankful. Lord Hokage wanted you to enjoy having a normal life before you were inducted to the life of a ninja…"

'_Or, more accurately-_' Kakashi thought to himself. 'Sakura _should be thankful for that._' She was the only one of the three who didn't have a childhood full of pain and various traumas, but he wasn't going to bring this up now.

"… and you didn't have to endure the horrors of war."

That eased Sasuke's frustration a bit. His brother had also grown up during that war. That meant part of the reason he graduated so early and progressed so quickly was because he'd received better training and had been given a sensei that could focus on three student's unique needs and give them advanced lessons sooner due to the needs of the village. In that case, it was no surprise he was much stronger at the same age. Of course, he still had prodigious talent that had Sasuke wondering exactly how much of his growth rate could be attributed to the period in time he'd grown up in.

"So how old were you when you graduated from the academy?" Naruto asked.

"Five. And I became a chunin at six."

Once again, his students were shocked speechless by the revelation, Sasuke especially. Kakashi had actually graduated _earlier _than his brother. Sakura felt a little bad for their sensei and it showed on her face, thinking of how hard it must have been to grow up on the battlefield from so young an age, even though she couldn't relate. It occurred to her that she was the only member of her team that had had a normal, happy childhood.

Naruto had a similar expression to Sakura. Though he could understand what it was like to growing up through painful experiences, he couldn't relate to what Kakashi had experienced.

Sasuke looked contemplative. The memory of something Kakashi told them during their bell test, that the names of his closest friends, almost certainly his team, rose to the surface of his mind and it occurred to him that this was probably when he lost them. He didn't know what it was like to live through a war, but he knew the pain of losing those he cared about.

Haku gave the jonin a look of understanding. He'd been around that age when his father had discovered that he and his mother were of the Yuki clan. Soon after that tragedy, he'd been taken in by Zabuza, who had him fight as soon as he was able. He had done some fighting during Kiri's civil war, so though the circumstances were different, he too was forced to grow up on the battlefield.

Zabuza was slightly surprised that Kakashi had made genin earlier than he had. He'd graduated at nine, but it didn't really matter since they'd ended up on about the same level. He wasn't going to bring this up because this would no doubt remind them of exactly how he graduated, which would probably lead to questions. Not that he regretted or was ashamed of it in any way; he just had no desire to discuss his past at the moment.

The Sharingan wielding jonin decided they should get back on topic. "Anyway, as I was saying, this is back when I was about your age, during the Third Ninja World War. My team and I had just received a mission to go behind enemy lines in order to sabotage their supply line and cripple their war effort. As I'd just been promoted, I was to lead our team for the first time. Though our sensei traveled with us, we were going to split up once we reached neared the war zone."

"Um." Sakura cut in. "If you don't mind me asking, who was your sensei?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked." Kakashi responded with an eye smile. "My sensei was none other than Minato Namikaze."

Silence followed that statement. Once Naruto recovered, he pointed at Kakashi and sputtered, "K- Kakashi-sensei. You were trained by the Fourth Hokage?" He could hardly believe he was being taught by the former student of one of his idols.

He had initially held some resentment towards the man known as the Yellow Flash for sealing the Kyuubi into him, but had let that go. After all, there had been no other way to stop the Kyuubi's rampage, so it was that or let it kill everyone. Besides, he'd given his own life to do it, and even aside from the admiration he felt for someone willing to sacrifice himself for the lives of his people, there was no point in holding such sentiments towards someone who was already dead.

That being said, he wondered why he had been chosen. Was he just the closest child on hand, or was there some specific reason? Were his parents still around and if so, what did they have to say about it? He guessed he would those answers when he learned about his family.

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, he wasn't the Hokage yet. It was actually during that war that he became a hero of the village."

Both Naruto and Sakura shot forward excitedly. Both wanted to know about the legendary ninja, Naruto because he was one of his heroes, and Sakura because she had always had a fascination with gaining knowledge and had now found out her sensei was taught by one of the most important figures in the village's history. The two of them began firing off questions eagerly in unison.

"What was it like learning from the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto asked.

"What did he teach you?" Sakura questioned.

"Was he as great as all the stories say he was?" chimed in Naruto. Sasuke was also a little curious, but felt no need to voice this with his teammates doing it for him.

"I'll tell you all about it, if you calm down and let me." The masked jonin said. "To answer your questions, considering his skills were part of what won us the war, his sacrifice during the Kyuubi attack and the fact that he received the only flee on sight order in the history of the Elemental Nations, you tell me if he was as great as the stories say."

His head turned to the sky as he remembered the bygone days when his teammates were still around, before the tragedies of ninja life left him the only survivor.

"As for what it was like learning from him, he was definitely a great teacher, admittedly far better than me. He always knew exactly what we needed to hear and was able to help us with anything we needed. He was almost like a father to the three of us. As for what I learned, well, obviously it would take too long to be specific. Let's just say I learned everything I needed to. And he always stressed one thing to us and it's something you too should take to heart: the most important thing for a ninja is teamwork. No matter whom you are or how strong you become, having people who understand and support you is necessary to succeed."

He observed the other's reactions to what he told them. Naruto and Sakura seemed to believe the Fourth's lesson whole heartedly, as did Haku and Zabuza's expression was neutral, making it impossible to tell if he approved or disapproved. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he seemed somewhat skeptical, but it was hard to tell if he believed it or not. After letting this sink in for a few moments, Kakashi decided it was time to get back on topic.

"Now then, I want to tell you the events of a short battle that took place once we neared enemy lines. Before my squad and sensei split up, we encountered a lone Iwa ninja, who quickly used the shadow clone jutsu to create nineteen copies of himself, which scattered throughout the forest. I volunteered to face our enemy as I was anxious to try out my new jutsu, which would be perfect for this situation. My own original technique: Chidori."

"Huh?" Naruto interrupted, interested in the technique. "Chidori? What's that?"

"Do you all remember my Raikiri?" Kakashi questioned, receiving nods from three genin, he continued. "Well, that's a more advanced version of Chidori; more powerful, but also more chakra intensive. Anyway, using the speed granted by Chidori, I bolted through the area in a manner befitting my sensei's epithet, defeating the shadow clones one after another. In only a minute, it was down to me and the real one. As I charged towards him, he raised a sword to counter my attack. Just as I was about to strike, my sensei used his legendary speed to stop me just a moment before I would have engaged the enemy… and before I would have been decapitated by his sword."

Seeing the surprised expressions on their faces, Kakashi elaborated.

"You see, Chidori and Raikiri grant me enormous destructive power and speed by focusing all my power into the attack. Problem is, I moved so fast that I developed tunnel vision, and was unable to see his counter. He'd manage to time it just right to take my head off had sensei not saved me. And even with sensei's intervention, I still suffered an injury to my shoulder."

He raised his hand to his hidden eye.

"It wasn't until I was given this eye that I was able to use the technique properly, as the superior vision granted by this dojutsu allows the user to take in every detail, regardless of matters such as how fast one moves."

Hearing that piqued Sasuke's interest. He had long been curious of how his sensei acquired his clan's dojutsu. When he first saw it, he'd been a little angry; the pride of his clan, in the hands of someone outside the bloodline. He knew he probably hadn't stolen it, given his personality and motto about those who abandon their comrades since that would be far worse, but that still left the question of how it came into his possession. He wondered what the circumstances of this gift were.

"Now." Kakashi said, his single dark orb falling on Naruto. He had told them this story for two reasons. The first being, as Zabuza guessed, to teach them a lesson he'd learned the hard way. The second was to test Naruto's mental growth. "There's a reason I told you that story. Can you tell me what that reason is, Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly at being put on the spot before he crossed his arms and turned his head to the ground as he thought about it. After a few moments, he looked up and said, "Well, I remember you told us to learn from mistakes of others as well as our own, so I guess you wanted to teach us something… and that is… that we shouldn't rely on a technique without knowing its flaws first?"

The masked jonin gave him his eye-smile. "That's right. Very good, Naruto." His gaze swept across all his students. "That's a lesson for all of you. Be careful when using new techniques, and try to learn as many of the potential drawbacks and vulnerabilities of your jutsu as you can."

Naruto and Sakura nodded and gave an affirmative while Sasuke simply grunted an affirmative. The blond grinned slightly. Perhaps more than a little because he'd wanted to learn everything about the first power of his dojutsu he'd gained access to. Naruto had already done as Kakashi said and knew his new ability's flaw.

That being said, it wasn't much of a flaw in his opinion. The only weakness of Shinra Tensei seemed to be that every time he used it, he couldn't use it again for 15 seconds. During this time, his abilities weren't hampered in any other way, meaning he could still use all his other techniques and fight as normal. It wasn't an issue as long as he didn't start relying on it exclusively.

He still had a lot to learn about the technique, though. He had no idea what kind of scale it could be used on, and he thought that he might be able to shorten the amount of time between uses if he trained with it enough.

All that aside, part of Kakashi's story didn't sit right with him. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like to grow up in the middle of a war. To fast track children to the point of promoting five year olds because of a need of man power? Since learning the fate of his clan and their village, he'd had to consider the darker aspects of the ninja world. How many kids died on the battlefield during that war? And how many survivors were affected?

The more he found out about this side of being a shinobi, the more he wanted to change it. For now, all he could do was resolve to try to not let it change his way and beliefs, though it would be hard. He'd be lying if he said he didn't resent Iwa and Kumo over what they did to his clan and ancestral village, but then; chances were most if not all of those who had been responsible for that were dead and gone. Reminding himself of that helped temper his sentiments towards the two villages.

Kakashi brought his hands together. "All right, now that story time's over, I think it's about time we got started. We're going to be training together for the rest of the day."

Naruto snapped his fingers in disappointment. "Damn. I was hoping I'd have a chance to test out my new jutsu some more."

"Hn." Sasuke scoffed, closing his eyes with a slight smirk. "Don't let that new technique go to your head, loser." The young Uchiha said, drawing the Uzumaki's attention. "Those eyes might be powerful, but they're not everything."

Naruto glared at Sasuke before grinning, placing his hands behind his head in a relaxed stance. "Ha. What's wrong? Do I sense a hint of jealousy in that detached tone of yours?" Now it was Sasuke's turn to give the blond a fierce look.

"Don't start thinking that just because you have those eyes, you're any better than you were before."

Naruto took a step forward, his fist raised before him threateningly. "I don't! I think I'm better than I was before because I've been training my ass off for the past month!" he said, swiping his arm out. "And some day soon, I will surpass you, with or without Rinnegan!" He said before grinning again. "And you know, since you think you're so high and mighty, why did you graduate with the rest us?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that. "The minimum age for graduation is 10, but you graduated at 12, just like the average ninja. Face it; you're not so great yourself."

Now Sasuke took a step forward, all signs pointing to a fight about to break out. "You better watch it, Naruto."

Sakura ran between them, holding her arms up to keep the two apart, while Haku stepped forward to aid her. "Calm down you guys. Let's not fight like this. We're supposed to be a team, aren't we?"

Haku added his own two cents. "Didn't Kakashi just tell you that one of your village's greatest heroes believed teamwork was a ninja's most valuable quality? Is this really the way you two want to act all the time?"

Despite the situation, Kakashi had to suppress a chuckle. Ever since Naruto's mental growth had started showing and Sakura had begun to let her fan girl tendencies go and be nicer to Naruto, thus no longer invariably taking Sasuke's side during their arguments, the three children had started to remind him more and more of his own genin team, which they'd already closely resembled from the start. This most recent exchange was so much like the arguments the kunoichi on his team had had to break up.

Still, there were obvious differences. In his youth, he had believed that attachments were unimportant to a ninja. The mission was far more important and those who abandoned it or broke the rules were trash. To that end, he'd been willing to abandon his comrades, until his teammate, who he had had such heated exchanges with due to how he would brush the rules aside, changed his views. Until that time, the two couldn't stand each other because of their conflicting ninja ways.

Sasuke wasn't like him. The confrontations he had with Naruto were born of jealousy. Not of Naruto's powers or even his dojutsu, but because of his growth. Sasuke's superiority/inferiority complex was only growing stronger as time went on now that he was faced with someone who might actually surpass him, and it needed to be dealt with. Another difference, one he was glad for, unlike how he'd been in his youth, despite how detached he seemed and how he fought with Naruto, Sasuke would never abandoned his teammates… not like that time…

Closing his eyes briefly to banish the thought of one of his greatest regrets, Kakashi walked towards his students to break them up. "Ok you guys take it easy would you?" Kakashi stated. "As Haku said, this isn't exactly going to help your teamwork." He began. Seeing he had the two dojutsu wielder's attention, he continued. "Sasuke, stop dressing down Naruto. Aside from the fact that it makes you look weak, he's really improved over the past month. You'd have to either be a fool or deluding yourself not to realize that."

Sasuke scoffed and looked away while Naruto snickered.

"And Naruto, didn't Zabuza teach you to better control your emotions? While it's understandable, you shouldn't rise to Sasuke's taunts so easily." Seeing the blond look to the ground dejectedly, he stepped up to him, crouched so he was down to his height and said just quietly enough for him to hear with an eye smile, "That being said, that was a good move pointing out when he graduated. If you do feel the need retaliate, try something along those lines with just a bit more subtlety." When Naruto smirked, Kakashi stood up. "You two should really try to get along better. After all, teamwork is important to today's lesson." Seeing this got his student's full attention, with a slight flicker of amusement, he decided to keep them in suspense. "Now, why don't we go find some place more appropriate?"

With that, he turned around and began leading them to a larger clearing, Zabuza caught up with him. "Hey. You planning to do anything about those two? Not like I haven't seen guys that can't stand each other work well together before, but it's hardly good for the team, or the sanity of those stuck working with them."

"Relax; I've already got something in mind." Kakashi replied, pulling out his orange book. Naruto scowled slightly at the sight of the sight of it. While he'd created a fairly perverted jutsu, it was made to be used against perverts and as a practical joke, as Iruka could attest, having been a victim of that prank several times. While he certainly did have an interest in the female form, which was perfectly natural for a boy who was on the cusp of puberty, he also respected women and looked down on perverts.

Unfortunately, he'd yet to realize how disrespectful to women his sexy jutsu was.

Sakura noticed the blonds' expression and followed his gaze to their sensei's beloved copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Wondering what could be bothering him, she closed the distance between them and quietly inquired, "Hey, what's got you so worked up all of a sudden?"

Naruto turned his head to her and blinked, slightly surprised, before breaking out in a fox-like grin, certain Sakura would be even less amused by their sensei's choice in leisure activities. Bringing his mouth next to her ear, he whispered his discovery to her. In a moment, Sakura jerked her head away, her eyes wide with shock.

"WHAT!?"

This drew everyone's attention as the group halted and turned to look at the pink haired girl, who was now shouting denials at Naruto, who had his hands up in a placating gesture, while obviously restraining his laughter at the thought of the trouble he just caused his teacher.

Kakashi quickly decided to get to the bottom of this. "Hey, settle down. Can one of you please tell me what's going on?"

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura began her tone somewhat relieved and sounding almost hopeful. "Naruto was just telling me you're some big pervert and that that book you're always reading is basically porn." She closed her eyes and gave a wide, somewhat strained smile. "I guess that's his idea of a joke. I mean, there's no way a jonin of your caliber would go around reading something like that in plain sight all day, right?"

Kakashi's eye twitched.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei, say it's not true."

"…"

"… Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well… it's not like that's the reason I read it…" It wasn't, at least not the only reason. He genuinely did like the story and comedic portions too and felt the series was a work of literary art, but there was no denying the fact that it was definitely for adults only.

"Y- you mean he's telling the truth?" Sakura said in a defeated tone.

"Well…"

Sakura pointed at the jonin accusingly as her temper erupted. "KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU PERVERT! ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU'VE BEEN READING THAT GARBAGE WHILE WE'VE BEEN WALKING AROUND THE VILLAGE WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE IT?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW HUMILIATING THIS IS!?"

The rest of the group watched as Kakashi tried in vain to calm his female student, who continued to rant over how embarrassing it was to know that her sensei was a pervert and lament that she had a sensei that went around all day reading what was basically porn in public.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in annoyance, most of the newfound respect he'd acquired for his sensei at finding out he was the student of a legendary ninja evaporating in a heartbeat.

Beneath his mask, Zabuza's mouth curled upwards and amusement was clear in his eyes. '_Idiot. That's what you get for reading that in public._' He liked the series too, but like most people, he wouldn't read it where other people could see it.

Haku's shoulders were shaking. Like Naruto earlier, he was suppressing a laughing fit. He could safely say he enjoyed living in Konoha over being on the run any day. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this amused.

Naruto was no longer trying to resist, he was openly laughing, at one point wiping a tear out of the corner of his eye at his sensei's misfortune.

"Come on, Sakura. It's not that bad."

"Not that bad!? Half the village has seen you with us, reading that trash the whole time! And do you know what kind of rumors could spread if Ino finds out about this!?"

* * *

><p>Anko threw her head back, her hand rising to her face and covering her left eye as she cackled. She sat at the Ichiraku Ramen bar with a steaming bowl of the stand's famous broth before her. Seated on the stool next to her was Naruto, who grinned at Anko's reaction to his tale of the previous day's events, specifically Sakura's reaction to her sensei's choice in literature and his failed attempts to calm her. The blond also had a bowl of ramen, as well as two stacks of five empty ones each beside him to the side.<p>

Despite their rather rocky start, the two had become fast friends due to the similarities.

Both were stubborn, easygoing, hyperactive, cheerful, cared little for social standings and made that clear whenever they could get away with it, neither would take an insult or slight sitting down and, though the Rinnegan bearer didn't know it yet, both knew what it was like to be ostracized for something they had no control over.

"Ah, serves the scarecrow right. That was bound to bite him in the ass one day. It's probably half the reason he's not getting any and is stuck reading about it in the first place!" Anko chortled.

"You should have been there! I've never seen him react to anything so much when we weren't on a mission!" Naruto said through peals of laughter at his teacher's expense.

A coy smirk spread across the snake summoning kunoichi's face. "He definitely didn't used to carry that book around back when I rocked his world."

Anko broke out in laughter once more as the blonds' blushed deeply and sputtered in shock. "Wh- what?"

"Ah, it was years ago. It was just after this mission he had to… what was it again… oh right! He had to rescue this princess from an allied nation that was in the middle of a coup… shame about that." She said before sighing, her head rising toward the ceiling as she closed her eyes, brought her hand to her cheek and thought back to those times.

Despite the way she flirted and her provocative attire, she was far from easy. In fact, you could count the number of people she'd slept with on one hand and still have a few fingers left over, but Kakashi happened to be one of the few she'd really taken a liking to. She was quite disappointed it had turned out to only be a one night stand.

"We'd known each other for quite a while before that. I'd just got back from a mission of my own and found him kind of down and, in one of my rare moments of sympathy, took him out for a drink. So we spent the night getting hammered while catching up, and I got a glimpse of what was under his mask. And let me tell you, he's got nothing to hide. He'd probably have his own legion of fangirls if he didn't wear it all the time." Her gaze turned back to the blond. "Anyway, before we knew it, we were back in his room where he was holding me close and we were getting into some heavy shit, and then we took off our clothes and we were suddenly…" Her grin threatened to split her face in half as the Rinnegan bearer's face had grown so red that it resembled a tomato and she prepared to share with him every explicit detail of that night…

"Stop right there!" Interrupted Ayame, her own face flushed a shade of crimson as she stepped up to the counter. While she knew ninja matured more quickly than civilians due to the dangerous and often short lives they led, she still felt the need to protect what little of her younger brother figure's innocence remained for as long as possible, even if it would probably only last for a year or two. "He's only twelve! He shouldn't be hearing things like that!"

"Aw come on, don't be such a stick in the mud." Anko replied. Seeing the waitress eyes become chips of ice as she raised her ladle in a threatening gesture, heedless of the fact that she was staring down a skilled kunoichi, Anko decided it wasn't worth it. Besides, she could always scar the boy later. She raised her hands in a placating gesture. "All right, all right, I won't tell him about the hot, steamy night I shared with his sensei. Happy?"

Ayame backed down, though her eyes remained narrowed, and moments later, she returned to her duties.

The blond spent the next few minutes recovering from the embarrassment. Finally, once he completely calmed down, he turned to see Anko obviously enjoying the noodles and broke the silence that had fallen over them. "So, what do you think of the ramen? Isn't it the most delectable thing you ever tasted?"

Anko shrugged and closed her eyes. "Eh, it's good, I'm not going to deny that, but I still say they can't compare to a nice stick of dango."

Naruto stared at her in slight disbelief, unable to comprehend that someone could sample Ichiraku's ramen and not think it was one of the best things they ever tasted. "Come on, how can you not see that ramen is the most delicious thing on the planet?"

The purple haired woman looked down at him. "And how can you not see that nothing can compare to the sweetness of dango?"

Once more, fierce sparks flew as they stared each other down, each willing the other to back down. Finally, Naruto said, "… We're just not going to see eye to eye on this, are we?"

"Nope."

Both returned to their meals and silence fell over the two in the wake of their battle of wills. After a few moments, Naruto spoke up again. "Say Anko, you're a proctor for the Chunin Exams, right? Got any tips or advice you'd be willing to share?"

"All I've got for you is the same advice I'm going to give everyone else." Anko turned and gave the blond a serious look. "Try not to die."

Naruto was visibly let down by that. "Aw, come on. Isn't there anything you can tell me?"

Anko raised a brow. "And how would that be fair?"

The young Uzumaki smirked. "Since when do ninja fight fair?"

Anko chuckled at that. It was just the response she was hoping for. "Spoken like a true shinobi, kid. But no, you'll just have to wait and see." Naruto huffed at that and turned back to his food to finish it off. As he picked up the bowl and drunk what was left of the broth, Anko spoke again. "But for what it's worth, I doubt you've got anything to worry about."

Naruto had just emptied the bowl when Anko finished speaking and turned to her with a surprised expression. One serious difference between them was that Anko wasn't as sympathetic as he was and never sugar coated anything. He knew she wouldn't say something like that without meaning it.

He gave her his fox-like grin. "Really? Thanks, Anko."

"No problem. Just don't let it go to your head." She said before a slightly malicious smirk spread across her face and she spoke with a slightly energetic tone. "After all, it's always the overconfident ones who wind up dyeing the exam areas red with blood."

Naruto took her statement in stride, having gotten used to such things between her and Zabuza. "Well, that's not going to be me. My team's going to pass with flying colors."

The kunoichi just gave a short laugh at his enthusiasm. A moment later, Teuchi approached the two. "So, all done or would you like another bowl?"

"Nah, I think that's enough for today." He said with a wide smile he then turned to the snake summoner. "You said it was your treat ri- huh?" There was nothing but a cloud of smoke where the special jonin once sat, which quickly cleared to reveal a folded piece of paper. The Rinnegan bearer, already knowing where this was going, quickly it up and opened it, written on it was a short message.

_You should know better than to make a lady pay for your food. Anko._

"ANKO!"

* * *

><p>Sakura was beaming with anticipation as she walked across a bridge over the nearly steaming water of Konoha's hot spring, approaching the building proper. "There's nothing like a trip to the hot springs after all that hard work training under Haku."<p>

After the first few weeks of what she could only describe as the training from hell, she'd decided to try to find some new ways to relax on her days off. She quickly discovered the hot spring was perfect way to unwind and had become a frequent visitor.

However, as she neared the entrance, she stopped as she just barely heard something that sounded vaguely like giggling coming from some place nearby. Turning her head in the direction of the noise, the pink haired girl briefly considered ignoring it, but after a moment's thought, decided to investigate.

Peering around the corner of the wall surrounding the women's bath with a frown, her expression turned to one of shock and she couldn't stop herself from letting out a surprised yelp when she saw a man who seemed to have just hit his fifties.

He was fairly tall, perhaps even taller than Kakashi-sensei, with waist length, spiky white hair tied in a long ponytail with two shoulder length bangs framing his face and red lines trailing down from his eyes. He wore a green kimono shirt with matching pants, a mesh undershirt and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side of the front, along with wooden geta sandals and a horned forehead protector which, rather than any village symbol, had the kanji for oil written on it.

However, what caught Sakura's attention was not his attire, but that the man appeared to be peeping into the women's hot spring.

The man instantly sensed her presence and turned to her, his eyes wide upon realizing he'd been caught.

There was a stunned silence for about three seconds before the pink haired genin, her face contorted in rage, yelled, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING OLD MAN!? PERVERT! PEEPING TOM! LECHER!" She continued to shout accusations and insults at the old man, who made shushing gestures, well aware that on the other side of that wall were various kunoichi who would no doubt have all manner of pointy weapons on their person.

Ah, the downside of doing his 'research' in a ninja village. Hotter girls, far greater risk.

Hearing frantic movement on the other side of the wall along with shouts of panic from some of the civilians and cries of outrage from others and all the kunoichi, the white haired man bolted with Sakura in hot pursuit. Soon, he found himself on the run from a mob of angry women, shouting threats from castration and death to various forms of torture.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was in the middle of one of his few hobbies: going on a walk alone through a fairly secluded lake side area of Konoha, ignoring the few people there as he let his thoughts wander and allowed his body to go wherever his feet happened to take him.

He was soon broken out of his inner musings by a most unusual sight: a man being chased by what appeared to be an angry mob… and it was headed straight for him!

The Uchiha quickly leapt out of the way, watching the stampede rush by in bewilderment. He blinked as he looked at the dust cloud trailing behind the group; almost certain he saw a head of pink hair in the crowd. "Was that… Sakura?"

* * *

><p>Hiruzen sat in his office with a smile on his face, the last rays from the setting sun filtering into the room from the window.<p>

For once, he was not in the middle of the endless struggle against the bane of all Kage, staring down a seemingly ever-growing pile of documents, forms, complaints and what have you. No. Today, he was seated directly before the westernmost window in his office, reclining in his chair while reading the same orange book Kakashi could almost always be seen with, completely at peace.

Why, you ask, was the old man not doing his duty as Hokage? Simple. Because a single shadow clone was sitting at his desk, working tirelessly at doing his job for him.

After the pranking spree a month ago, Hiruzen had watched Naruto through his crystal ball, knowing full well he was the perpetrator. After all, there had been only one other prankster in the history of Konoha who could have pulled off all that had happened that day and not gotten caught, and that had been the boy's mother.

While watching for any signs of what set this off, he had happened upon a scene of Anko Mitarashi congratulating him for a job well done.

It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what had happened, especially since she'd largely stopped bothering him after that, feeling her revenge was accomplished.

Once he found out they had done this to get to him, he called them both to his office separately. When time came to give Naruto his punishment, the blond had pitched his idea for the shadow clone jutsu, asking if there was any reason a Kage couldn't use it to do their paperwork for them.

There wasn't, and the second God of Shinobi almost felt like banging his head against a wall for not thinking of it himself.

That had gotten Naruto off the hook, though Anko wasn't as lucky and suffered a pay cut, coupled with guard duty and D-ranks until the Chunin Exams began. She made it clear she felt it was completely worth it to see the look on his face when a veritable mountain of papers collapsed on top of him. And so, for the past month, the Third Hokage had been free of the shackles of his duties for the first time since he had retaken the mantle in the wake of the Kyuubi attack.

As the Third Hokage flipped the page of his favorite piece of the Icha Icha series, he sensed a presence he hadn't felt in years. With a sigh, wondering what took the man so long to arrive when summoned, he closed his eyes and his book before standing and walking towards his desk.

"Hey, long time no see old man." Spoke a masculine voice from an open window where a moment ago there had been nothing but air. Sitting there on the windowsill, his back resting on the frame and his right leg propped up on the ledge and his arms folded, sat the same man that had been chased by an angry mob not even an hour ago, looking no worse for wear.

His shadow clone dispersed itself as Hiruzen reached his chair and sat down at his desk. He turned slightly in his chair to look at the younger man. "Yes, it has indeed. It's good to see you, Jiraiya." He then gave him a slightly irritated look. "… Although it would have been better if you could have gotten here sooner."

The now identified Jiraiya of the Sannin gave a sheepish chuckle and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that. I meant to come by sooner, but I kind of had to run for my life recently…" He had managed to use his considerable talents to give the slip to the angry horde that had chased him through the village.

"That's not what I meant." Hiruzen responded. "Would I be correct in assuming your recent trouble has anything to do with your 'research'? It's probably the same reason you were so late getting here."

Jiraiya gave his sensei a knowing smirk. "Odd you should mention that. Last I checked, you loved the fruits of my research." Hiruzen looked away with a slight blush, causing Jiraiya to chuckle. "I gotta say, you got a nice set up here; kicking back while a clone does all the work. I figured that's how you'd spend your days. Minato's little trick really makes wearing the hat a lot easier, huh?"

Hiruzen's gaze shot back to the other legendary ninja, his eyes wide with shock. "What did you just say?"

Jiraiya raised a brow and tilted his head. "What do you mean? Minato used to do this all the time. How do you think he managed to keep improving his skills at the rate he did, or spend so much time with Kushina?"

Hiruzen's head fell forward, his eyes hidden in the shadow cast by his hat and his hand clenched into a trembling fist. "… Why didn't you tell me?" He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Well… I thought you knew. I figured Minato would have mentioned it, and how often have I been back in the village since you took back the position? How was I supposed to know? I guess Minato never brought it up because he didn't think you'd retake the mantle." Jiraiya answered, watching as Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the anger he was feeling. "So, what's so important that you had to call me back?"

The Third Hokage took out his pipe and lit it while Jiraiya asked the question that had been on his mind since he received his summons, brought it to his lips and took a deep, calming breath before blowing out a plume of smoke before turning to Jiraiya with a serious expression. "Do you recall how you informed me of those three you trained in Ame?"

Jiraiya winced slightly as those old memories came to the forefront of his mind. "I remember. What's that got to do with this? You know that's a sore subject for me." He had truly believed those three would change the world. When he'd heard they died, he'd spent weeks wondering if he was wrong to leave them. Maybe he should have stayed longer or brought them with him to Konoha. Even now, his mind still wandered back to those three every once in a while, wondering what became of them.

"Well… by some strange twist of fate, someone here in Konoha has awakened the same eyes your student had."

Of all the things the legendary Sannin could have expected to hear, that would have to be on the bottom of this list.

"Are you serious?" The question was rhetorical. He knew his sensei wouldn't joke over this. "… Those eyes vanish from the world for millennia, only to appear twice in a single lifetime…" He said, wondering if there was any significance in this. "So, who's the new kid?"

The God of Shinobi let out a short laugh. "That may be even more surprising. Then again, he's not called the 'number one unpredictable ninja' for nothing." He met his student's eyes. "Naruto Uzumaki."

Jiraiya was floored by this revelation. His jaw dropped slightly for a moment before a grin broke out over his face. "Heh… fate really does have a sense of humor… How'd he get them?"

With that, Hiruzen explained everything he knew of Naruto's life until now and the events in Wave. When all was said and done, the Sannin let out another chuckle and shook his head slightly. He was slightly appalled with the treatment Naruto endured, but he realized that he should have expected as much. Jinchuriki are pretty much treated the same everywhere after all. But right now, he was fixated on Team 7's fateful C turned A-rank mission.

"Damn… getting caught up in something like that on his first real mission…" He turned his head to look out the window, his eyes gaining a far away look. "His parents would be proud."

Hiruzen sat back and closed his eyes, a sad smile spreading across his face. "Indeed they would."

"About that agreement you made… dangling the knowledge of his parents in front of him is pretty good motivation, but it's a bit extreme don't you think?" Jiraiya said with a slight tilt of his head.

"It's not as if I'm actually going to keep it from him…" Hiruzen responded. "In truth, whether he becomes a chunin or not, I intended to tell him as long as he proves himself mature enough to keep the secret… and honestly, he already has. Regardless of the outcome of the exams, I won't keep him in the dark any longer."

The Toad Sannin sighed. "… I'd hoped I'd be the one to tell him."

Hiruzen glared at him slightly. "You've only yourself to blame. In the twelve years of his life, you've never stopped by for even a few days. Kakashi at least has the excuse that he guarded him from afar when he wasn't on long term ANBU missions. How would he respond if he knew your connection to his father?"

Jiraiya held his hands before him in a placating gesture. "Hey, don't get me wrong, I know. Doesn't mean I'm happy about it." It was just another of the mistakes which he'd have to live with.

The Third Hokage grunted in response and once more sat back in his chair, taking another puff from his pipe. "I assume I don't need to tell you why I called you back."

"Yeah, I get it… but I gotta tell you, you're going to be disappointed." The white haired man replied, bringing his hand to his hair. "Hate to say it, but we didn't really make much progress with the Rinnegan's powers, so I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to offer much help in that area."

Hiruzen's expression became questioning. "But you trained him for two years."

"Yeah, but I had no idea what kind of powers the Rinnegan might have or how to bring them out." Jiraiya pointed out. "That aside, those three had no prior training when we ran across them. Most of our time together was spent teaching them the essential skills of a shinobi. He progressed incredibly fast though. He could master any technique that I showed him after seeing it just once."

Hiruzen chuckled. "That sounds like something the two have in common. Naruto was able to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu in a single night."

Jiraiya was briefly surprised before grinning again. "That so?"

Hiruzen nodded. "In any case, you intended to take him under your wing eventually, right?"

Jiraiya's expression became serious. "Yeah, now more than ever."

The second God of Shinobi frowned. "Something tells me you aren't saying that because of his bloodline." At Jiraiya's confirmation, Hiruzen pressed. "What have you discovered since our last communication?"

* * *

><p>The three genin of Team Seven had gathered in their training ground. Sasuke leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing with his arms crossed and his eyes closed, Sakura stood in the center of the clearing with her hands behind her back, gazing up at the sky, a small package next to her feet, and Naruto sat against the center training post, reading up on sealing jutsu.<p>

Although the blond did enjoy reading up on the art his clan had mastered to an unheard of degree, he was starting to get a little agitated. Finally, with a slight growl, he voiced the question that was on all their minds. "Where are those three? They're already two hours late!"

Sakura sighed. "Good question… this is way too much like how things used to be. It wouldn't surprise me for Kakashi-sensei to slip, but where's Zabuza and Haku?" She said, all three thinking back to before the Wave mission.

Prior to the Hokage setting him straight, the only time he hadn't kept them waiting at least three hours had been the day they left for the mission. The pink haired girl, annoyed at their three teachers, grew a mischievous smirk before kneeling down to pick up the box at her feet.

"Well, I guess they're just going to have to miss out then." She said, drawing her teammate's attention as she stepped closer to both of them and sat down in the grass before opening the box, revealing several Taikoyaki cakes. "I decided to make snacks for everyone and since they've decided to keep us waiting, I say we eat their share."

Naruto grinned and stood up, quickly walking over to her and taking one of the sweet bean filled treats. "Great idea. Thanks, Sakura."

"Don't mention it." Sakura replied, picking up one of the cakes herself and taking a bite. She then turned to Sasuke, who hadn't moved from his spot, and offered him one with her other hand. "Sasuke, don't you want one? I worked really hard on them."

With a slight sigh, Sasuke joined them and took the cake, looking none too pleased as he stared at the treat in his hand. While he did appreciate the sentiment, and despite how he rarely showed others respect he was polite enough to not turn down the offer, he really didn't care for sweet foods. Resigning himself to eating at least one, he took a bite and turned to his kunoichi teammate.

"Hey Sakura, what was going on with you the other day?" Sakura looked at him and blinked in confusion. "I saw you and a mob chasing after some guy." He clarified, causing her to blush before her face twisted in anger.

"That _guy_ was some old perv I caught peeping on the hot spring."

"Did you catch him?" Naruto asked.

Sakura huffed. "No, we chased him half way across the village before he gave us the slip." She replied, annoyance at the fact that the man had gotten away resurfacing. "Can we not talk about that anymore?" She said, wanting to change the subject. "How are your lessons in sealing jutsu coming, Naruto?"

Sasuke's black orbs focused on Naruto too. The two genin had been curious about Naruto's sudden interest in sealing jutsu and been shocked to learn of the blonds' heritage. This had actually raised the raven haired boy's opinion of him a bit. As anyone with even an ounce of intelligence could tell from his ambitions, family honor and pride were very important to the Uchiha heir. The fact that Naruto had made it a goal of his to restore his clan and its name and to master the art that they had apparently perfected was something the Sharingan bearer could respect.

Naruto shrugged. "Eh, good as can be, I guess. I can make basic storage seals, but those aren't anything special. That's about as far as I've come."

"Well, at least you're coming along." Sakura replied before her voice took an excited tone. "Just think. Once you progress far enough, we won't have to pay for sealing scrolls or explosive tags."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, think of all the money we'll save." He remembered what his sensei had told him about how his clan made money by selling unique seals to other nations and wondered if he would be able to do something similar one day. Sasuke nodded. It was a practical way to save money, after all their sensei had taught them not to shy away from using jutsu sensibly for mundane reasons.

That being said, he didn't really care one way or another. He fought for his clan and the village, not for the money, so the Ryo he'd save if Naruto made seals for the team was of no consequence to him. After all, he was the sole inheritor of his clan's entire estate and he didn't care enough to splurge on unnecessary things. What did he need to more money for?

"Have you found anything else out about your dojutsu's abilities?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not yet. I can just feel that it can do a lot more than what I showed in Wave, but…" He trailed off. He was less frustrated with it now that he'd found something, but it still irritated him that he knew so little.

"Do you ever miss your old, blue eyes?" Sakura asked.

The blond turned to her and shrugged. "A little, but I've gotten used to their new look. I just wish I didn't have to go around with these on all the time." He brought his hand to his sunglasses and adjusted them. "I like them, but sometimes I really just want to take them off and show my eyes to the world."

Sasuke gave an amused sound. "Makes me glad I can deactivate my eyes, unlike you. Going around with them like that all the time is like having a target painted on your back."

"Yeah, well at least I can do something with my eyes." Naruto shot back.

Sakura was about to speak up to nip what might otherwise lead to a fight in the bud, when all three of the pre-teens senses warned them of danger. Their heads all shot up to look at the east side of the clearing just as three shuriken burst from the trees at the opposite end of the training ground, aiming straight for them.

All three immediately sprung into action, leaping out of the way, the two dojutsu users activating their eyes as they flew through the air before landing about twenty feet from one another, each in their fighting stances with Naruto in the center, Sakura on his left and Sasuke on his right.

The two male genin could both see the chakra of the man, who was no longer attempting to hide his presence and was simply obscured behind a thin covering of leaves which weren't enough to complete hide him. The first thing both noticed as their eyes read his chakra was that they didn't recognize his signature from anywhere. The second was that it was _massive_. Whoever this was, he had far more chakra than anyone they'd encountered so far, including their sensei.

Suddenly, the attacker jumped out of the tree. The two dojutsu wielders saw his chakra signature vanish the moment he hit the ground. Having seen something similar from his training sessions with Kakashi, Sasuke quickly called out, "He's gone underground!"

Before he could say anything more, something seemed to split the earth apart as it moved towards them at a rapid pace, kicking up a massive cloud of dust as it tore through the soil to reach them.

All three genin took to the air as the force reached them, shattering the earth and creating a huge smokescreen when it reached the spot where they'd been a mere moment before. They were quickly enveloped in the dust cloud while still in the air.

As Naruto brought up his left arm to shield his mouth and nose from the debris in the air, he saw a figure moving through the air towards him. Seeing the assailant throw a punch, Naruto used the arm shielding his face to deflect the blow and counter with a knee, which the man caught.

This was what Naruto wanted as he brought his right arm to punch the man's face, but his opponent bent his head backwards, Naruto's punch coming within an inch of his face and briefly covering most of his vision. While the attacker was focused on this, the blond threw a left hook, which the man blocked, but he was forced to release the boy's knee as they came to the ground, allowing the boy to jump back before launching himself at the attacker.

This began a fierce taijutsu engagement and the two traded blows as the smoke cleared, revealing the attacker. He was a large man with a strong, but not bulky build, wearing the standard ninja uniform of Iwa and a mask similar to the one Haku wore when masquerading as a Kiri hunter-nin. The only features visible were that he had a tanned skin tone and red hair that went down to his shoulders.

The blond ducked under a vicious blow before leaping to avoid the follow up kick. He spun in the air and came down in a falling axe kick, which the masked assailant blocked with a cross guard. Naruto wasn't finished yet, and twisted his body into a sweeping kick before the man could grab his leg, forcing the man to skip back to dodge.

The attacker heard the barely audible sound of weapons cutting through the air and ducked under a volley of shuriken that came from behind him.

Naruto, seeing an opening, shot forward, aiming a jab at the attacker's mask, but the man blocked, grabbing the boy's arm and spun, using his momentum to send him flying. As he threw the blond, he found that the Uchiha was joining the fray, springing off the ground and over the blond, who recovered in the air and used his chakra to adhere himself to the ground, skidding to a stop across the dirt as the Uchiha came down with an overhead blow.

As the masked attacker blocked his attack, Naruto launched himself back at the attacker. While their teamwork wasn't perfect, the combined assault kept the attacker on edge for a few moments until he jumped back to avoid a shower of senbon and proceeded to skip back to avoid several more volleys of the small weapons. He caught one and immediately observed a purple liquid leaking off of it. His eyes narrowed behind his mask when he saw the weapon was poisoned.

He directed his gaze back to his opponents, seeing that the kunoichi was no where to be seen and obviously the source of the poisoned needles and probably on the move, as well as the fact the two dojutsu users were moving to resume their attack, He moved forward to meet them, using the poisoned weapon to aid in his assault.

Dodging an attempt to stab him with the poisoned weapon, Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration. Just as in his spars with Kakashi, his eyes could follow every move his opponent made, but no matter what type of move was made, his opponent was moving just fast enough to avoid or block the attack, speeding up when it became necessary to do so. Both he and Naruto saw this and knew what it meant.

Their opponent was toying with them. Lowering himself down to a level that allowed them to keep up with him, but not allowing them to injure him. But for what purpose? They had no time to ponder this as they continued their assault. The Uchiha once more found himself on the receiving end of an attack that he could see but was too slow to block as the man weaved around one of his punches, brought out his arm and cloths lined him, sending him into the air before launching a kick into his chest and sending him sailing into a tree, the bark cracking under the impact.

Naruto looked at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye and continued to press his attack when he saw the Uchiha was already getting back on his feet. As the masked ninja turned and blocked a punch from Naruto, he once again noticed the kunoichi launch another hail of poisoned senbon at him. These hit their mark, striking him all over his back… or they seemed to before he burst into smoke and revealed a log, littered with the small ninja tools. Naruto cursed inwardly at this as he and Sasuke turned their gazes towards Sakura's hiding place, knowing their enemy discovered it as well.

Sakura's eyes widened as she saw her attacker vanish with the substitution jutsu from her perch on a branch hidden by leaves. Before she could make a move, she detected someone behind her and quickly leapt just as he came down with a kick that tore the tree's limb off.

As she sailed through the air, she reached into her pouch and threw several shuriken at the masked ninja, who deflected every blow before launching himself at her. The pink haired girl brought her arms in front of her to block a kick which sent her flying out of the tree line and into the ground, slamming hard into the unforgiving earth and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Sakura!" Naruto called out as her teammates ran to her. Slowly, the pink haired girl got up into a kneeling position as her teammates joined her, banishing any apprehension about the situation she might feel.

Her team was in trouble, and this time she wasn't just going to stand aside and leave it to them. She wouldn't just watch them protect her. This time she would fight alongside them.

"I'm alright." The pink haired kunoichi assured her teammates as their attacker leapt out of the tree line, landing in a sight crouch with his arms at his sides.

"So, you three are the students of Kakashi of the Sharingan, huh? Heh, I gotta say, you're better than you look."

Naruto stood and glared at their attacker. "And you're even dumber than you look if you think no one's going to notice you attacking us out here. Who the hell are you anyway?"

He knew that, at the moment, they hadn't done enough to warrant an assassination, and whoever their attacker was couldn't know about his Rinnegan… could he? It wasn't much more likely that he'd know about the Kyuubi, so that probably wasn't it either. Was he after the Sharingan, then? He'd mentioned Kakashi, was this about some grudge with their sensei? And why did he think he'd be able to escape easily when the older Sharingan bearer might show up at any moment?

"I have to agree with my teammate, and I can tell you that doesn't happen often. If you're an assassin, you've got to be the worst one I've ever seen attacking at a place and time like this." Sasuke added, his and Sakura's thoughts on their opponent similar to Naruto's.

Sakura stared at their attacker, after all their training under Haku and being constantly exposed to Zabuza's killing intent when being trained together, she now showed no fear as she spoke, summoning as much authority as possible. "What are you after and who do you work for? If you answer our questions and come quietly, they might go easy on you."

The masked assailant chuckled. "You honestly think you're a threat to me? Ha! And why should I answer your questions?" He asked before bringing his hands together. "After all, out of the four of us, I'm the only one who's going to walk away from here alive." He said with a calm and malicious tone before weaving hand seals with speed that surpassed that of their sensei before yelling. "Earth Style: Mud Silhouette!"

A surge of mud erupted from the ground before him, forcing the three genin to scatter to avoid the river of earth. Naruto's eyes widened as the unknown assailant appeared before him, seeing him in the middle of launching a punch at him. The blond quickly made a single, cross shaped hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" The boy vanished in a cloud of smoke, one clone blocking the attacker while the other threw Naruto in away and out of the fray.

Through the Rinnegan, all three shared their fields of vision. Thanks to that, Naruto could see that Sasuke was moving towards them from the same direction he'd been thrown in before leaping in the air and running through hand signs.

Once Sasuke completed the sequence, he inhaled deeply and brought his hands to his mouth before breathing out a stream of small fire balls. '_Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!_'

The clones did their best to distract their opponent from the approaching attack, but once the fire balls were away, there was little hiding it. The unknown ninja swore to himself as the clones peppered him with blows from both sides, their ability to see through one another's eyes helping them coordinate their attacks, and they were doing everything in their power to keep him in the path of the approaching barrage.

He caught a punch from the clone behind him and threw him into the path of the attack before lashing out with a kick, catching the other clone in the chest and dispersing it, allowing him to leap to the side just in time to avoid the attack.

He quickly launched a counter attack of his own. "Earth Style: Rock Shuriken!" Dozens of small rocks burst forth from the ground, moving rapidly towards the two dojutsu users, spaced close enough together to provide little room to dodge. He watched as the attack approached, eager to see how they'd avoid this.

Seeing the attack coming and knowing there were few routes of escape, Naruto brought up his hand and called on the power granted by the Rinnegan. '_Shinra Tensei!_'

Whatever the masked assailant could have expected, it wasn't what came next. He watched in slight surprise as an invisible wall seemed to form, shielding the blond and his teammate as the stones shattered harmlessly against the unseen force.

Before he could try to discern what just happened, he sensed the final member of the team come up from behind. He spun just in time to see another volley of senbon flying towards him. He rapidly moved his arms to block the projectiles as the pink haired kunoichi closed the distance, two kunai held in reverse grips in her hands.

He leapt backwards to avoid a swipe from the kunai and promptly spun around to avoid an attack from another shadow clone. Once again he found himself in the middle of a two pronged assault: Sakura with her kunai from one side and the blond doppelganger from the other. Finally, Sakura threw her kunai and in an impressive display, the attacker ducked, caught the weapon as it sailed over him, and directed it downward with a reverse grip, using it to stab the clone.

Sakura leapt in the air and came down with a cry of effort, using her impressive control and charging her arm with chakra to increase her strength as much as she could.

The attacker's eyes narrowed. As the kunoichi neared her attacker, a smirk broke out across her face. He leapt backwards to avoid her attack, the impact creating a dust cloud. While he expected an attack from her teammates, he couldn't have anticipated what came next.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

The ninja turned around, his eyes wide to see Sasuke breath out large fireball about three times the size of his body, while Naruto brought his hands together, unleashing a wave of wind which hit the mass of flame and caused it to more than double in size and form a wall of fire and wind, promising agony and death to anyone unfortunate enough to be caught with its range.

Before he could move to avoid the attack, he sensed an attack from behind. He quickly spun around to find another shadow clone. He grit his teeth as he blocked the attack from the doppelganger, already his window to escape or counter the approaching maelstrom of flame had almost completely evaporated.

He turned his head in the direction of the kunoichi, knowing she shouldn't have the time to escape and unable to believe they'd sacrifice her like this… only to see nothing but a hole. Sakura had gotten out of the way with Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu.

Underneath his mask, the attacker smirked, realizing they must have planned all this in advance. Accepting his loss, mere moments before he and the attacking clone were consumed by the flames…

… Only for him to disperse into smoke, revealing him to be another clone as well.

Naruto's expression morphed from confident to shock as Sakura emerged from the ground beside the two dojutsu users. The last sight his clone had seen was their assailant dispersing into a smoke. "Guys! That was just a clone! It's not over yet!"

"No, it's over." They heard the masked ninja's voice state calmly. They turned, all ready to continue fighting, to see him learning against a tree with his arms crossed, relaxed. "You guys are pretty good. I've gotta say you surpassed my expectations."

"Well, you have always said good teachers beget good students." The voice of their sensei entered the clearing. The three genin turned, confused, to see Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku walk into the clearing.

"Kakashi-sensei, wha-…Wait a minute! Are you telling me this was all some kind of test!?" Naruto asked, obviously agitated.

"Yep!" Kakashi replied with his eye smile.

Haku was more apologetic. "My apologies, the decision came from above us. We didn't really have a choice."

Sakura's, who had similar feelings to Naruto about the impromptu test, expression morphed from anger to confusion. "Above you? You mean the Hokage put you up to this?"

"What's the old man thinking? And who the hell is that guy, anyway!?" Naruto fired off, not the least bit placated by that answer.

The unknown ninja chuckled. "You should really calm down. You're hoping to enter the Chunin Exams, right? Well that's going to be much more intense than that little skirmish. Why don't you just think of this as a pretest and guess what? You passed." Naruto just glared at the man. "As for who I am… well, I'm glad you asked." With that, a cloud of smoke burst into existence around the man, which cleared to reveal Jiraiya.

Unfortunately, he was immediately recognized by Sakura, who pointed at the Sannin accusingly before he could begin introducing himself. "Hey! You're that pervert from the hot springs the other day!" She yelled, causing the white haired man to stumble out of his relaxed position.

Kakashi just sighed. "… Really?"

"What the – Are you kidding me?! Why do we have to prove ourselves to some old perv?!" Naruto asked.

"Hey! I'm not just some perv!" Jiraiya responded before making a series of five hand signs and slamming his palm onto the ground before vanishing in a poof of smoke. As it cleared, it began to reveal a man sized toad wearing bits of samurai style armor.

Naruto's face lit up in excitement as he saw what he knew must be the summoning technique for the first time when he wasn't in imminent danger, and he was impressed with what was summoned. Sakura however seemed a little creeped out, not liking amphibians.

However, what Jiraiya did next would leave most of the observers completely stunned. And not in a good way.

The smoke fully cleared to reveal Jiraiya was standing atop the large amphibian. "I am a man who bears many titles! A hero who has vanquished foes across the north, south, east and west!" He said, going into various kabuki poses as he went through his melodramatic self-introduction. "The Sage of Mt. Myoboku! The handsome toad summoner of the Sannin! He who makes women swoon and villains cry! Master Jiraiya!" He finished in a final, dramatic pose.

The ending of Jiraiya's introduction was met with silence as everyone else in the training ground who didn't already know Jiraiya stared at the Sannin, who looked down at them with a smug grin. Kakashi had known what Jiraiya was like, but had nothing to say, and thus simply sweat dropped at the spectacle. After a few moments, Zabuza was the first to respond, bringing his hands together and clapping in a slow, sarcastic manner.

"Congratulations." The masked jonin began, his expression and tone neutral. "You've succeeded in making a complete ass of yourself." This caused Jiraiya to face-fault off the toad, which croaked at him in amusement.

Naruto snapped out of his bewilderment. "That… has got to be the most pathetic thing I've ever seen… and I've seen an unbelievably rich dwarf cower in front of someone he'd just been gloating at! Ah! I can't believe this is the guy I've been waiting for to tell me about my bloodline!"

Sakura turned to her sensei. "Kakashi-sensei… is he really who he says he is?"

"Yes, Sakura. He's really Jiraiya of the Sannin." Sakura's shoulders slumped upon learning that such a powerful and well-respected ninja would be like this in person. Sasuke simply watched the events in annoyance.

'_This guy's one of the legendary Sannin?_' The Uchiha heir thought as he observed the man. '_He doesn't seem like much… but back there…_' He thought back to the fight, trying to compare him to his sensei. '_… He's strong, stronger than Kakashi, that's for sure._'

Haku, hoping to put the situation back on track, stepped forward. "Well, now that you're here, maybe you can tell us what you know about Naruto's bloodline."

Jiraiya, who had gotten back on his feet and had been about to defend himself, shrunk back and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Ha ha… yeah, about that… I'm afraid you already know more about its abilities than I do."

Naruto and Sakura simultaneously cried out. "WHAT!?"

"Heh heh heh… Well, I'm guessing you were told I trained a Rinnegan user in the past. You see, when I found him and his friends, they had had no prior training. On top of that, I was only with them for two years and I didn't have a clue about the Rinnegan's powers. Unlike you, we had absolutely nothing to go on, so we didn't actually manage to tap into any of its abilities."

Naruto growled, clenching his fist in front of his chest. He'd been looking forward to finding out what the man knew about his dojutsu for over a month. To say he was disappointed would be a huge understatement. "Then what was the point of calling a pervert like you back to train me?"

Jiraiya glared at the blond. "Stop calling me that, brat! I'm not a pervert!"

Naruto snorted. "Oh, yeah? Then what are you?"

Jiraiya puffed out his chest with pride. "I… am a super-pervert!"

Once again, there was silence. After a moment, Naruto turned to his teammates. "I think we should go get started with our training… away from him. What do you think?"

"I agree."

"Hn."

His two teammates replied and the three began to walk towards the tree line, causing Jiraiya to look at them in confusion.

"Hey, where are you three going?"

Naruto turned back and gave the white haired man a blank look. "Isn't it obvious? Away from anyone who'd proudly call himself a super-pervert."

While Jiraiya's jaw dropped, Kakashi stepped forward. "Now now, don't be so hasty. I assure you, he more than lives up to his reputation, in terms of ability. He's also a great teacher, he did, after all, train my sensei."

The three genin were visibly shocked.

"This guy trained the Fourth?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Kakashi nodded. "You should also know he's one of the foremost sealing jutsu masters in all the Elemental Nations."

Naruto's face lit up when he turned to face the Sannin. "Well, why didn't you say so?" Sakura groaned and brought her hand to her forehead while Sasuke sighed at how quickly the Rinnegan bearer had changed his mind, though they couldn't really fault him for it. "So, will you help me with my sealing jutsu, pervy sage?"

Zabuza gave a short laugh while Jiraiya promptly shot forward and gave the young Uzumaki a light slap to the back of the head. "Don't call me that! And to answer your question, brat, of course I will. I said I was here to help you out, didn't I? Besides, I'm glad _someone's_ interested in the art of sealing. If you ask me, they never should have cut it out of the academy curriculum. Now, let's go somewhere a bit more private. I want to see what you've figured out about your bloodline so far."

* * *

><p>Minutes later, the group had gathered together deeper in the forest surrounding the village. Once they were certain that no one would stumble upon them, Naruto was allowed to remove his sunglasses, revealing his purple ringed eyes to the world.<p>

The sight of those legendary orbs had left Jiraiya speechless for a moment, his mind flashing back to the day he had seen them for the first time, back during the Second Shinobi World War.

The white haired man shook his head. "… Just like Nagato…" he murmured.

However, he wasn't quiet enough as the blond overheard what he'd said. "Nagato? So that was his name?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "Hey, pervy sage?"

"Damn it, brat, stop calling me that!"

"I think it fits you perfectly." Sakura stated.

"Geez, what's with you kids? Come on, I'm one of the most amazing people you could come across. Are you kids going to show me even an iota of respect?" The super-pervert grumbled.

The sole kunoichi in the group glared at him, her distaste for perverts causing her temper to flare. "Too late! You lost whatever respect I might have given you when I caught you peeping on the hot springs!"

"And your stupid posturing didn't help either." Naruto added.

"Hn," it was hard to tell with the grunting and all, but it sounded like Sasuke agreed as well.

Jiraiya scoffed. "Kids today…"

"We call 'em like we see 'em. If you want to be respected, then act respectable." Naruto said. "Anyway…" He continued, ignoring the man's grumbling. "I've been wondering… what was Nagato like? He must have been a relative of mine, right?"

Jiraiya huffed, still caught on the lack of respect, before crossing his arms. "Yeah, he was. I didn't think about it at the time, but looking back, he was almost certainly a member of the Uzumaki clan. He had the same trademark red hair most of your clan had, as well as the incredible life force and chakra they were famous for."

Naruto frowned. "But… I was told no one else in my clan had these eyes… What makes us so special?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Beats me. That's something I'd like to know. Anyway, when I first met him, he was a shy and sensitive child, not to mention somewhat of a crybaby. Heh, I wasn't even aware of his dojutsu for a few days because he kept them hidden with his hair and held his head down most of the time. It wasn't because he didn't want anyone to find out about them, he was just so damn timid that he wouldn't look others in the eye. He had no idea what he wanted to do, where he wanted to go or how to go about it." Seeing the slightly disappointed expression on the Rinnegan bearer's face, Jiraiya smirked.

"The only thing he was sure of was that he wanted to protect the people he cared about. By the time I left, while he was still uncertain of his place in the world, he'd stopped crying and grown into quite the dependable guy." He said before sighing. "I'd hoped to see him and his friends again someday, see how they grew up and hear their stories… but I never got the chance."

"How'd you find them?" Naruto asked.

The toad Sannin's gaze rose to the sky. "It was just after the end of the Second Shinobi World War. Tsunade, Orochimaru and I were on our way back to Konoha when he and two others, a boy named Yahiko and a girl named Konan, crossed our path. The three had been orphaned by the war and were all around eight years old, so I took it upon myself to teach them how to defend themselves. One day shortly after I decided to stick around, they were attacked by a chunin from Iwa when I was away from them. I arrived to find Nagato had single handed killed him."

"Whoa whoa whoa, back up." Zabuza cut him off, as shocked as the others. "Are you telling me a non-genin with no prior training single handedly took down a chunin?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "I was just as surprised. That was when I discovered he had the Rinnegan." He closed his eyes. "I spent the next two years training them and teaching them what they'd need to know to survive. The three of them were amazingly talented, especially Nagato." A smile spread across his face. "He'd master any technique I showed him quickly and after seeing it just once. By the time those two years had elapsed, he had mastered all five basic elements as well as all the fundamental jutsu."

Everyone, even the normally stoic and inexpressive Kakashi, gaped at that. Two years? Was he serious? Most ninja spent their whole lifetimes trying to expand their skills and even if they focused on elemental ninjutsu, most would only master two.

Kakashi was a genius. Maybe not to the level of certain others, but he was definitely one of the most naturally gifted ninja of his generation. Once he received the Sharingan, his growth rate had increased even further. It allowed him to copy any technique and in doing so, gain a basic understanding of how to manipulate an element. With this combined with his talent, he was able to master two elements: the lightning element, which was his affinity, and the water element, gained advanced skill in the earth element and passable skill in the fire element. His proficiency with wind however was so low that it would be a waste to use the one wind jutsu he knew, no matter the situation. That was after over twenty years of experience and hard work. _Two years_? That was insane!

And he didn't even have shadow clones aiding him! The jonin present realized that, if this incredible rate of growth was due to the Rinnegan, it was entirely possible that Naruto could fully master the wind and water elements in a matter of months.

Jiraiya chuckled once more at their shell-shocked expressions. "Anyway, once they were strong enough to defeat a shadow clone of mine in a no holds barred match, I decided I'd taught them enough, and I'd left them to find their own paths." He sighed. "About a decade later, I'd heard they'd died." He looked down at the blond. "Sorry, but I don't like talking about it. Can we just move on for now? There's not really much else to say anyway."

"All right." Naruto said, a little disappointed that that was all he was going to learn and that he'd never had the chance to meet his fellow Rinnegan bearer. A grin then spread across his face. "Although, you've already seen what I learned about my eyes in action."

The white haired man blinked in puzzlement. "Huh?" He could understand using its visual abilities, but when did the brat use any of the dojutsu's powers?

Upon hearing the rather eloquently asked question, Naruto explained the shared vision and Shinra Tensei. A look of understanding crossed the Sannin's features, now realizing what that barrier had been and how the shadow clones had been able to coordinate with each other and Sakura to such a degree; they'd been able to see the entire battle through the eyes of one another and the real Naruto, allowing them to perceive every move he'd made, similar to the Byakugan.

"Pretty impressive huh?" Naruto asked with his fox-like grin.

"You ain't kidding. Makes me wonder what else those eyes can do."

"According to Haku, it's also possible to invert the technique he's learned and pull things towards him, but he hasn't figured it out yet." Kakashi explained, causing Naruto to look a little sheepish at being reminded of his lack of progress.

Jiraiya noticed and decided to remind the boy of what he'd accomplished. "He's still figured out more than Nagato and I did in two years."

Naruto brightened up at that. "So, how are we going to do this? I mean, we already have Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza and Haku teaching us…"

"Eh, they seem to be doing a fine job teaching you right now, and you know what they say about having too many chefs in the kitchen." His gaze shifted over all three of the genin. His sensei had told him not to play favorites, at least until it was time to take Naruto under his wing after the exams were over. After all, that had been one of the mistakes he'd made with Orochimaru and though the old man felt such a thing wasn't likely to happen here, better safe than sorry. Besides, based on what his sensei had told him of the blond from before the mission in Wave, he'd already truly flourished under their tutelage. "If you're looking for training in sealing or the earth and fire elements or something they otherwise can't help you with, come see me. Otherwise, you should probably stick with what they're telling you."

With that, the toad summoner turned and began walking away. He'd already seen enough of the one ability Naruto had unlocked. "Well, if you've got nothing else to show me, I'll let you get to it while I go off and do my own thing." He gave them a two finger salute over his shoulder.

Sakura put her hands on her hips. "Peeping on unsuspecting women, you mean?" She said disapprovingly as Naruto reached into his pouch.

"Hey, wait a second pervy sage." He said, pulling out a scroll.

The man sighed and turned back to him, shaking his head. "There's just no changing your mind about that name, huh?" '_He really takes after his mother… though I can see some hints of his father there too…_' "What is it?"

Naruto ran forward and showed him the scroll. "These are some ideas I came up with for sealing jutsu. What do you think?"

Jiraiya raised a brow before taking and reading the scroll. After a few moments, he turned to the excited blond, approval showing in his eyes. "Pretty good ideas, considering you're just starting out. I like what you've got here, although…" Thus began a discussion that ended with the two working out a daily schedule for tutoring in sealing jutsu, as well as fine tuning the blonds' ideas.

* * *

><p>Hours later, the moon shined down on Konoha, bathing the village in the pale, silvery light of its. Haku looked out the window of the apartment he and his master lived in, gazing at the night sky before turning to his master, who sat at the nearby couch, sharpening a kunai before flipping the blade in his hand and examining it with a critical eye. While the sword wielding jonin rarely used the weapons, needing only his blade, he found the act of sharpening ninja tools relaxing.<p>

"Well, this has been an interesting day." Haku said before turning to look at his master. "Things are certainly quite lively here in Konoha, don't you think, Master Zabuza?"

"Hn, 'lively' isn't the word I'd use to describe it." Zabuza replied. Though he'd never admit it, he did like things around the village, though he sometimes found it a bit boring. There were times Konoha seemed too peaceful for his liking.

"Well, you can't deny there are some interesting people around here." The ice user responded. Meeting Jiraiya had been interesting. Haku could tell he lived up to his reputation, despite his personality.

"Heh, I'll give you that." Zabuza replied, briefly thinking back to his meeting with Anko before returning to his kunai.

"Hey, Zabuza?"

"Hm?" The masked jonin looked up at him.

Haku looked at his master curiously. "I've been wondering… I like it here, but it doesn't really seem like your style to want to live in a place like this… and the thought that you wanted to settle down is laughable. What made you decide to take Naruto up on his offer?"

Zabuza closed his eyes for a moment before responding. "I was tired of working for trash like Gato, who were just as likely to stab us in the back as pay us. Any possibility of fulfilling my ambition has long since died, so there wasn't any reason to stay on the run. I suppose… I was tired of no longer having a cause." Haku nodded at that and started to turn back to the window. "And… because you weren't really cut out for that life."

"What?" Haku replied, unable to keep the shock from his tone. He quickly spun around to look at his master again.

Zabuza sighed. "… Haku… time and time again, I tried to teach you to kill off your emotions. To act as a tool, an extension of my will… but no matter what you were put through, you were never able to relinquish that kind heart of yours." He snorted before continuing. "I suppose part of me is pleased about that. You weren't suited for the life of a missing nin… and I can tell you, you wouldn't have lasted long as a ninja in the Kiri I grew up in. Someone as caring and altruistic as you isn't suited for either of those kind of lives… but I knew Konoha would fit you perfectly. To be honest, that's the main reason I decided to join this village." Opening his eyes and looking at his student, his brown orbs narrowed when he saw the joyful expression on the ice user's face. "Get sentimental on me, and I test out this kunai on you."

Haku chuckled. That was more like the Zabuza he knew. "Certainly not." After a pause, he asked, "Is it alright if I call you sensei?"

"… Sure, go ahead."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please read and review.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey. Here's chapter 7, sorry I couldn't finish it before Christmas.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>"Man, that mission was boooring!" Naruto complained loudly as he walked down the streets of Konoha, turning and looking over his shoulder at his teammates who were walking behind him. Sakura to the right wearing a sleeveless version of her usual clothing, Sasuke with his hands casually in his pockets to the left and Kakashi was trailing behind, reading his precious Icha-Icha as usual. "I mean seriously, nothing happened. We just stood around the whole time."<p>

"We know, we were there." Sasuke responded dryly, though inwardly he agreed with his teammate. He was hoping for an opportunity to test himself, but none had arisen since Jiraiya's test a few weeks ago.

Sakura shook her head at the blond. "You shouldn't complain because we had an easy mission, or are you hoping for a repeat of what happened in Wave?"

Naruto placed his hands behind his head. "No nothing as extreme as that, I just wish something exciting would happen, you know? Even something as ordinary as attacking a bandit camp."

"Don't worry. The exams are right around the corner. I can guarantee you'll see plenty of excitement soon enough." Kakashi said to the blond before looking over all his students. Almost as if on cue, he heard the call of a bird. Tilting his head upward, he saw said hawk flying high over the village. He stared for a few moments before turning back to his team. "Well, I need to go submit the report for this mission. You guys don't need to come along since it was so uneventful. See ya." With that, he vanished in a burst of speed.

Naruto broke out in his trademark grin as he looked to his fellow genin. "Great! Then how about the three of us go and celebrate another job well done?"

Sasuke scoffed and turned away. "Not interested." He said as he began to walk home.

"Come on, Sasuke." Sakura stepped forward. She may not fawn over him anymore, but she still wished to be with him. Besides, she wanted to let him know that they were there for him. After all, that was what a team and friends were for, right? "Would it really be so bad to get a bite to eat with us?"

"…" Sasuke closed his eyes and seemed to consider it for a moment before turning and resuming his path to his clan's compound. "I have better things to do."

Sakura watched the retreating figure of the object of her affections before sighing. She'd hoped that after learning how beneficial teamwork could be, he'd be more willing to let them in. Naruto watched her for a moment before stepping forward and placing a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. "Don't worry; I'm sure he'll lighten up someday."

"Yeah." Sakura replied, brightening up. "So, where do you plan to go? Ichiraku's?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nah, I know most other people wouldn't want to go there all the time. How about…" he began he heard something behind him. He turned to see a square rock with eye holes approaching him from behind, coming to a stop the moment he turned. The young Uzumaki sweat dropped. There were only three individuals who would attempt to sneak up on him with such an obvious disguise. "I can see right through that disguise, plain as day. Come out of there you three, I know it's you."

With that, the poorly disguised box was lifted up to reveal Konohamaru and his friends, Moegi and Udon. The grandson of the Hokage crossed his arms and looked up at the Rinnegan bearer. "Just as expected from the man I chose as my rival."

"Hey guys." Naruto greeted before his expression became slightly curious when he noticed what they were all wearing. "What's with the goggles?"

Konohamau reached for them with a wide grin. "We're copying off of you, boss!"

Moegi took a step forward. "Are you free right now? You promised to teach us something cool today."

The blond slapped his forehead. "Oh right, I completely forgot!" he then turned to his pink haired teammate. "Sorry, Sakura! I kind of promised them. Rain check?"

Sakura gaped at the Rinnegan bearer. "You're going to teach someone? _You?_"

Naruto shrugged at her shocked expression, not seeing what the big deal was. "Yeah. What about it?"

Sakura stared at Naruto, almost paling at the thought of him trying to teach someone before reminding herself he wasn't the same idiot he was two months ago. He may act the same most of the time, but he was definitely smarter, took things more seriously, and actually thought things through now. "This I gotta see."

Konohamaru, who watched the two in silence along with his friends, stepped forward and tugged on the blond's shirt. "Hey, Naruto?" He said, getting his attention. "Who's she? Is she your…?" He asked, bringing up his hand and extending his pinky to indicate she was his girlfriend.

Naruto smiled at that, if one looked closely, held a hint of sadness as he wished she was. "No. Guys, let me introduce you to my friend and teammate, Sakura Haruno." He gestured towards his teammate, who snapped out of her stupor and waved at the children.

"Ah, I didn't think so. You could do a lot better than her, boss; I mean, look how wide her forehead is!" Konohamaru replied.

Sakura's head jerked downward, her hair shadowing her eyes as Naruto's expression became one of shock as he was aware this was the biggest trigger for his pink haired teammate's temper. However, another thought was going through his mind at the moment. He was aware of how similar he was to the Third's grandson, who was quickly becoming like a younger brother to him. He knew that sometimes he couldn't help putting his foot in his mouth, but…

'_I'm not _that _bad, am I?_' Naruto asked himself. He quickly cast this thought aside as he noticed Sakura's rage was going to go off any moment.

Now the blond had two choices. He could protect the three academy students from his teammate's wrath, earning Sakura's ire, or he could stand aside and hope they got away. Though they might see it as a minor betrayal, it only took a moment for him to decide.

"Konohamaru…" he said before jerking his head in the pink haired kunoichi's direction, causing him and the other kids to notice the girl's simmering anger. Their eyes widened as they shivered in fear at the small amount of killing intent leaking from the girl. "You should start running… NOW!" If Naruto protected him from this, he wouldn't learn anything. Besides, the three academy students would get over it when he came through with his promise.

The Konohamaru corps immediately bolted, running as if their lives depended on it as Sakura took off in pursuit, her eyes crazed and her mouth twisted into a wicked smile.

Once alone, the blond sighed at what he'd just witnessed. Was he really going to stand by and do nothing, especially after having been on the receiving end of Sakura's fury so many times in the past himself? He briefly wondered if he should have told Sakura who Konohamaru was. While the brown haired boy didn't like using his grandfather's name, it might save him a beating here. Deciding he'd better rescue Konohamaru, he started off in their direction only to halt when he heard a yelp in the direction the four had run off in.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the mission room of the administration building where several chunin were lounging as they awaited their turn to claim a mission or payment for a completed mission, Kakashi was handing the mission account to Iruka.<p>

"Thanks for the report." Iruka said to the silver haired man as he took the paper from him. The chunin skimmed over the report briefly before turning his gaze to the jonin before him. "So, how's Naruto? Is he getting along ok with his teammates?"

"Oh, he's doing quite well." Kakashi replied in his usual relaxed tone of voice. "His rivalry with Sasuke's the same as ever, but he and Sakura are on good terms these days."

Iruka smiled and chuckled slightly, remembering Naruto's one sided crush on the pink haired girl and how it drove her to no end of irritation. "Really? That's good to hear." He raised his hand to his face and scratched his cheek. "I've been so busy around here… I haven't seen him since he got back from the Land of Waves. I'm a little worried."

"There's nothing to worry about." The copy ninja replied. "Naruto's grown a great deal since the mission to Wave. He seems just the same as ever on the surface, but he's improved dramatically and has matured quite a bit. Someday soon, his skills may even surpass the person he respects most: you." He said with his eye smile. '_Actually, considering what I've seen of him lately, that day's not too far off…_'

"Is that so?" Iruka asked with a grin, glad to hear his younger brother figure was doing so well. Maybe after his shift here was over he could check up on the blond rascal. If nothing else, spending time with the hyperactive child would cure him of the boredom he felt from sitting around here for several hours.

* * *

><p>Sakura's eyes narrowed as she stared at the two figures before her, one of whom was holding Konohamaru by his collar, as she stood protectively in front of the other two academy student. Her quest to unleash her righteous fury upon the brown haired boy had come to an abrupt end when he ran into the foreign ninja who now held him in the air.<p>

They both seemed to be a few years older than her and wore the forehead protector of Sunagakure. The first wore a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front with a black hood that covered his head completely, and had cat-like ears and his forehead protector stitched into it. He was also sporting purple face paint and had black eyes, and unidentifiable object wrapped in bandages tied to his back.

The other, a kunoichi, had green eyes and blonde hair tied into four ponytails and a rather generous figure. She wore a light purple garment that went down about half way down her thighs with a red sash across her waist that held a large iron fan to he back and fishnet worn over her shoulders and legs on her right calf and her left thigh. She wore a black forehead protector tied around her neck.

"That hurt, you little runt." The male ninja said to Konohamaru, his eyes squinted close in a way that was similar to the way Sakura was accustomed to seeing from Naruto.

The blonde kunoichi glared disapprovingly at her teammate. "Stop it, Kankuro. You're going to get us in trouble."

Sakura took a step forward. While she'd wanted to pound the young boy for that comment on her forehead, it wouldn't have been any worse than what she used to do to Naruto. This Suna ninja might seriously hurt him. "Listen, it was my fault he ran into you. I'm sorry. Now, why don't you just put him down?"

"Eh? Well, there's a slight problem with that." Kankuro responded with a slight grin as he raised his fist. "You see, I hate annoying runts like him. And seeing them act so disrespectfully… makes me want to kill them." Sakura's eyes widened before she fell into a fighting stance while the two other members of the Konohamaru corps cowered behind her, tears of fear trailing down from Moegi's eyes. "Oh, so you want to protect him, huh? Well sorry-" He said, his tone insincere. "-but I can't let him get away with disrespecting me like that."

The blonde turned her head away with a sigh. "Whatever. Do what you want, I'm not getting involved."

"Well then, I think I'll have a little fun before _he _shows up." Kankuro replied, turning his attention back to the boy in his hand and preparing to punch him. Sakura made a move to interrupt his attack, only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

Kankuro threw a punch to the academy student in his hand, his smirk widening slightly as he struck true and his fist collided with the boy's cheek… only for his and the kunoichi's expressions to morph into one of shock when the boy burst into smoke at the moment of impact.

Kankuro stared at the palm of his now empty hand with wide eyes. "What the…?" He started.

"Hey, jackass!" A voice called out, drawing his and the kunoichi, his sister's, attention. They both turned their heads away from the fading cloud back to the group before them to see that there were two new additions. One was familiar, the boy that had been in Kankuro's hand, who was now looking slightly startled at what had occurred in the past few moments.

One moment, he had been helpless in the hand of the Sand ninja. The next thing he knew, he'd suddenly been transported to safety so fast that his vision had been reduced to a blur. The young boy had been replaced by a shadow clone at the last moment. Unfortunately, being unaccustomed to moving at such speeds, this left the boy extremely disorientated.

The other was unfamiliar to the Suna ninja and the one who had pulled Konohamaru out of the proverbial fire and held back Sakura, Naruto, who was now looking at Kankuro with a scowl. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to pick on someone smaller than you?"

Sakura smiled, relieved to see the boy was safe and unharmed. "Naruto!" At the same time, Konohamaru had finally regained his bearings and said along with his classmates, "Boss!"

Kankuro's eyes narrowed at the blond in front of him. "Heh, that's funny coming from a midget like you. So, think you're hot stuff, huh?" He said, unwrapping the bandages that held his mummy like weapon to his back. "You know the one thing I can't stand more than annoying runts…" He slammed the object to the ground and rested his hand top of it. "…are show offs who don't know their place."

Naruto put his foot forward and raised his fist. "If you want a fight, bring it on! Just don't blame me when I shove that mummy up your ass!"

The fan wielding kunoichi was startled her brother was taking it this far. "Hey, wait a second! You're not planning on using Karasu here, are you?"

"This punk needs to be taught a lesson, Temari." Kankuro replied before suddenly, a rock collided with his wrist with enough force to tear the skin, causing him to recoil and pull his hand back, his mummy like weapon dropping to the ground, as a small amount of blood trickled out from the wound.

All turned eyes turned towards the source of the attack and saw Sasuke sitting their, casually tossing two more stones in his hand with his eyes closed. "You shouldn't start a fight you can't finish." He said to the suna nin before opening his eyes and turning his black orbs on the two foreign ninja. "You two… what are you doing in our village?"

"Sasuke." Sakura called out with a smile.

The blonde kunoichi blushed slightly. '_The local heartthrob, I take it?_' She thought. '_Though the blond's pretty cute too…_'

Naruto grinned briefly, having known his teammate was there. Zabuza had trained him in stealth and helped him hone his already impressive but untrained skills in that field, which also improved his ability to detect others.

Kankuro sneered. These two brats had been making light of him, and had to pay. "So another punk crawled out of the woodworks, huh? Come on, I'll take you both."

"Kankuro…" a calm voice, one the one the Suna nin had dreaded to hear echoed through the area and cut off their conversation. All eyes widened in shock as they were suddenly alerted to this new presence. The attention of all those present were drawn to the source of the voice, a branch opposite the one Sasuke sat on.

Standing upside down on the branch with his arms folded over his chest was a boy with short, spiky red hair and green, pupil-less eyes. He lacked eyebrows and had thick black rings around his eyes and the kanji for love written in red on his forehead above his left eyebrow. He wore a black full body suit with short sleeves, legs that stopped just below his knees and an open neck, along with a white sash that went over his right shoulder and the left side of his hip and a wide leather band opposite it, which held a large gourd to his back and had a black Suna forehead protector wrapped around it.

Looking down at his fellow sand shinobi, the newcomer spoke in the same calm manner, his tone unchanging. "Stop… you're an embarrassment to our village."

'_What… when?_' Sasuke thought, slightly startled before his eyes narrowed. '_He was there the whole time I didn't even notice…_'

"Losing yourself over something as insignificant as this… how pathetic. Have you forgotten why we came here?" The newcomer said said, his tone and expression lacking any semblance of emotion.

"Bu- but they started it…" Kankuro tried to defend himself.

"Shut up… or I'll kill you." The red head interrupted, causing Kankuro to jump slightly and tremble, beads of sweat rolling down his face as the threat combined with the redhead's soulless gaze chilled him to the bone.

The black eyed suna ninja held up his hands in a placating gesture and gave the redhead a seemingly cheerful smile, his sister quickly adopting a similar posture. "Ok, I got it. I'm sorry, I was totally out of line."

"Me too. Really sorry." Temari added.

The red head turned, his inexpressive stare trailing over the leaf villagers. "I apologize for any trouble he caused." He said politely.

'_So, he's the one in charge._' Sasuke thought as he examined the boy he was sure would be a future adversary. '… _He has an evil look in his eyes, it's like they're teaming with murderous intent just below the surface._'

'_This guy's dangerous… Even after training with Zabuza, I couldn't detect him. And what's with him? From that look in his eye…_' Naruto thought, staring at the redhead with a serious expression as he remembered the arctic stare he'd given his teammate and the slight amount of suppressed killing intent which emanated from the boy. '_He wasn't just talking or making an empty threat, he'd really have gone through with killing his comrade!_'

'_This one managed to stop Kankuro with a pebble… and the blond got that kid out of his grasp with no trouble at all… they made it look easy. They're good…_' The green eyed boy analyzed the two who had dealt with Kankuro so easily before he vanished in a swirl of sand, reappearing beside his teammates. "Let's go. We didn't come here to play games." He said before walking past his teammates, who followed after him.

"Wait!" Sakura said, taking a step forward, causing the Suna ninja to halt.

"What is it?" The redhead responded, not even looking over his shoulder.

Sakura scrutinized the foreign ninja. "You three… you're genin from Suna, here to take the Chunin Exams, right?"

"Hm. You've got that right. Now since you know why we're here, can we go?" The kunoichi replied in a slightly annoyed and patronizing tone.

The Sharingan user joined his teammates with a Body Flicker. "Before you go, what's your name?"

Temari brightened up considerably at that, pointing to herself with a wide smile. "You mean me?"

"No. You with the gourd." Sasuke replied, pointing past her at said ninja.

"Geez, real courteous of you there Sasuke." Naruto grumbled, but he was ignored by his teammate.

The redhead turned to face the leaf villagers, his expression and tone never changing. "My name is Gaara of the desert. I'm interested in you and the blond as well. What are your names?"

Sasuke smirked. "Sasuke Uchiha."

The Kyuubi Jinchuriki gave them a small smile as he said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. And this is our teammate, Sakura Haruno." He gestured to the pink haired girl, who nodded. He then turned to his fellow blond. "And how about you? I didn't catch your name"

"Oh, you're actually interested?" Temari asked, annoyed at being snubbed by Sasuke.

"Yeah, unlike my teammate, I have some manners." Naruto replied, not mentioning he'd been _forced_ to learn said manners. That aside, he knew being ignored like that would piss him off.

The blonde kunoichi huffed before replying, "It's Temari."

Naruto put his finger to his chin and raised his head to the sky and said thoughtfully. "Now that I think about it, he usually acts this way to all the girls around him… kind of makes you wonder…" Temari snickered at the implication.

Sasuke rapidly turned his head to look at the blond, his expression one of pure shock as he sputtered briefly before he broke out in a scowl. "What exactly are you implying?" If he was suggesting what he thought he was, then the Uchiha heir was going to teach him a lesson in pain that would make everything Zabuza put him through seem tame by comparison!

"N-Naruto, don't say things like that!" Sakura scolded.

"Relax, I was just kidding." Naruto waved them both off with a slight grin before turning to the amused sand kunoichi. Seeing an opportunity to mess with the face paint wearing boy, the young Uzumaki gave a mischievous smirk before plastering a friendly smile on his face, his eyes curling into eye smiles similar to his sensei's beneath his sunglasses. "Before you go, how about I give you some friendly advice?" He said. "It'll make a bad impression of your village if you go around beating on kids who aren't even ninja yet…" When Kankuro scoffed and was about to retort, the Rinnegan bearer continued. "… especially when that kid happens to be the Hokage's grandson."

Kankuro's dismissal of the blond's words died in his throat as he and Temari were left visibly stunned by the revelation and the color drained from the boy's face. Unfortunately for Kankuro, his sister recovered first. Her mouth twisted into a snarl and with a growl, she raised her foot and slammed it down onto her brother's, causing him to cry out in pain before bending down to grasp his injured extremity as Naruto snickered and Konohamaru laughed outright. "You fool!" The kunoichi berated her sibling. "You almost caused an international incident! And over what!? Nothing!"

Kankuro looked up at his sister in mild panic, fearing her wrath and knowing he was probably going to get yelled at over this later. "H- How was I supposed to know!? And weren't you the one who just stood there and watched, Temari!? Don't try to pin this all on-!"

"Enough." Gaara intoned, his monotone voice causing both of his teammates, who happened to be his siblings, to freeze. "Shut up, both of you."

"Y- yes, Gaara." The both said meekly.

Gaara scoffed before taking a few steps away before leaping out of sight.

While Temari followed suit, Kankuro turned and glared daggers at the still snickering blond, gritting his teeth in anger at the boy who'd made a fool of him before following his after siblings.

Once they were gone, Naruto stopped suppressing his laughter. "Sorry about that, Konohamaru. I know you don't like using the old man's reputation but…"

"No problem!" The young Sarutobi said through peals of laughter. "That was great, serves him right!"

Sasuke, doing his best to put his Rinnegan using teammate's earlier insinuation out of his mind, continued to look in the direction the Suna ninja departed in with a smirk. '_Things just got interesting._'

Unnoticed by all of them, three other genin rested on a higher branch of the nearby tree. All three had forehead protectors marked with musical notes, identifying them as genin from Otogakure.

All three wore snake patterned pants and scarves. The kunoichi of the group had long black hair with a violet ribbon tied near the end that matched her eyes, and wore a pale green vest similar to a flak jacket. The first boy had spiky, dark hair and dark eyes and wore a beige shirt with two black stripes and three prints of the kanji for death down the front.

The leader of the three genin, sitting down in the center of the group, had bandages covering most of his face, leaving only his left eye uncovered and was wearing a large poncho with long sleeves, along with a straw raincoat and a porous metal gauntlet on his right arm.

"So, what do you think?" The spiky haired boy asked their leader.

"Just the usual weaklings, nothing to worry about, but we should keep an eye on the blond and black haired leaf ninja, as well as the sand rat with the gourd."

* * *

><p>"Thank you all for coming here so quickly." The Third Hokage began, looking out on the crowd of shinobi gathered before him in the meeting hall consisting of the sensei of the various genin squads, the teachers from the academy and the proctors for the upcoming Chunin Exams, including Anko Mitarashi. At the head of the group were the three jonin who led the rookie squads. "I'm sure some of you are wondering why you've all been called here. It should already be obvious to some of you here."<p>

"It's already been reported to the other nations. Some of them have already begun gathering in the village." said Genma, a special jonin with shoulder length brown hair, wearing his forehead protector like a bandana and held a senbon in his mouth.

"So, it's already that time again." Kakashi commented in a nonchalant tone.

"When is it?" Kurenai asked.

The aging shinobi took a puff from his pipe before his eyes, not the eyes of the grandfatherly side of himself he showed when off duty or around those close to him, but the firm gaze of the Hokage, returned to the group. "I'll formally announce it one week from now. On the first day of the seventh moon, the Chunin Examinations will begin."

He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. "Now, it is time to choose our candidates. To begin, will those in charge of the rookie genin step forward. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma."

The three specified individuals walked towards their leader, whose black orbs focused on them. Kakashi stood to the right of the trio, Asuma the left, and Kurenai stood at the center.

"What do you say you? Are there any among your squads that that you would recommend for the exams despite their inexperience? As you know, any genin who has completed eight or more missions may is eligible for the exams with the nomination from their sensei. Of course, most genin require at least twice that many missions, but it is up to you to decide if they are ready."

Iruka watched the proceedings. '_There's no need to say all this. It's too soon for them._'

"So Kakashi, you begin." Hiruzen said to the copy ninja.

Kakashi, in a more serious manner than his usual indifference, responded, "The Kakashi-led Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno… I hereby nominate them to take the Chunin Selection Exams."

That statement surprised many of the spectators, and none more so than Iruka. "What?" The Chunin whispered, unwilling to believe he'd just heard right.

Kurenai was next. "The Kurenai-led Team 8: Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. I hereby nominate them to take the Chunin Selection Exams."

Finally, it was Asuma's turn. "The Asuma-led Team 10: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akamichi. I hereby nominate them to take the Chunin Selection Exams."

Once all three had given their recommendations, the assembled crowd broke out in loud mutterings about the turn of events. Not in five years had even a single rookie team been recommended to take the exams and it had been decades since all three rookie squads had been put forward.

"Now wait just a second!" Iruka stepped forward.

The Hokage's gaze shifted to the academy instructor. "What is it, Iruka?"

"Lord Hokage, please let me have a word! I may be speaking out of turn… but all nine of these genin were my students at the academy. Of course they're talented and have great promise, but it's too soon for them to take the exam." Iruka objected heatedly. "They need more experience. I can't understand their reasoning."

Kakashi turned to the scarred chunin, knowing what, or specifically who, he was really concerned about. "I became a chunin when I was six years younger than Naruto."

"Naruto is nothing like you!" Iruka shouted back. "Are you trying to destroy these kids!?"

Kakashi gave the instructor with his usual impassive stare and said, with his usual air of indifference, "Well, they're always complaining about not being challenged enough, maybe getting crushed in the exams would be good for them. A little pain might help them grow."

"Wha- what did you say!?"

"Well, joking aside…" The masked jonin continued. "I understand how you feel and how personal this is for you, but-"

"Kakashi, back off. You've said enough." Kurenai cut him off, seeing and understanding Iruka's aggravation.

"No, he needs to hear this." The copy ninja stated with a slightly harsher tone than usual. "He needs to understand that they're not his students anymore; they're my soldiers."

Iruka growled lightly from worry and irritation at what he perceived as Kakashi's stubbornness.

Kurenai sighed and Asuma mentally groaned. "Man, what troublesome people." The laid back jonin thought.

Kakashi decided to offer the scarred chunin a little reassurance. "You may have taught them in the academy, but you haven't seen how they improved since they graduated. Since that time, their skills have greatly improved, and Naruto's has skyrocketed. Their light-years beyond where they were when they graduated. Trust me, I wouldn't have nominated them if I didn't have every faith they could succeed."

Iruka took a step back. He knew that Kakashi spoke the truth, but at the same time, couldn't help but worry. "But these exams could destroy them, you know that!"

"Iruka!" The Hokage cut in, feeling the argument had gone on long enough. "You have made your point and I understand where you're coming from, but Kakashi is right. It is no longer your place to decide whether or not they are ready."

Iruka finally relented, knowing their leader's word was final and it was out of his hands. "Yes. I apologize, Lord Hokage."

"Good, then let us return to the matter at hand."

* * *

><p>The next day, the three genin of Team Seven had gathered together at a bridge, waiting for their sensei. Naruto stood with his back against the railing, reading a book. He had just finished his book on the basics of sealing and had moved onto the first volume of the series of intermediate level sealing, written by non-other than Jiraiya of the Sannin. The Sannin had actually given him the complete series as a reward for mastering the basics so quickly. Sasuke and Sakura were on the opposite side of the bridge, Sakura leaned over the railing, her elbows resting on it as she looked out at the river, while Sasuke rested against it a few feet away from her, his eyes closed.<p>

Sakura briefly glanced at the Uchiha heir, averting her gaze when a blush spread across her face at how cool he seemed. Even if she'd stopped gushing over him, she still felt the same, but she realized now with certainty that how she used to act did, in fact, annoy him. She then looked to Naruto. It still amazed a part of her to see him calm and quiet, reading of all things. A few months ago, she would have wondered if she needed glasses if she saw him reading so studiously.

She turned around fully to face them. "Why do you think Kakashi-sensei had us meet here today?"

Naruto shrugged and mumbled what sounded like 'I don't know'. "If ninja from other nations are showing up, the chunin exams must finally be about to start. It probably has something to do with that."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he opened his eyes and looked away from them, thinking on that. He'd been looking forward to the Chunin Exams ever since they'd heard of it. At last! The perfect opportunity to test himself against other powerful members of his generation. Gaara and, though part of him didn't want to admit it, Naruto came to mind.

"Nail on the head, Naruto." The voice of their sensei came from out of nowhere. Looking up, all three saw him sitting in a crouch above them on the arch of the bridge. "Yo!" The jonin greeted once all their attention turned to him. He quickly leapt down and joined them.

"Kakashi-sensei." The Jinchuriki said as he and his fellow genin gathered before their sensei. "So, it's finally time?"

The copy ninja nodded, taking out three papers. "That's right. These are for you three." He said, handing the sheets to his students. "If you feel you're ready, sign those and come to the academy tomorrow at 4 pm. As one day of training won't really make any different, I suggest you take the rest of the day off. That's all." And with that, he vanished in a puff of smoke before they had a chance to say anything.

"Alright!" Naruto said with a excited grin as he held the consent form. "Finally! I can show everyone how much I've grown! This is gonna be awesome!" Sakura smiled at seeing the blond act like his old self before turning her gaze to her paper.

Sasuke smirked. "For once, I have to agree with you."

The blond turned to Sakura as she looked at her sheet, a contemplative look on her face. "You ok, Sakura?"

She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she gave the blond a more confident look than she'd ever given before Wave unless Sasuke was involved. "Yeah. This is what we've been preparing for, right?"

'_This is my chance to prove I'm not just dead weight anymore._' She thought.

"Then let's go and celebrate!" Naruto said before turning to Sasuke. "Are you coming this time?"

Sasuke thought about it. He was in quite a good mood at the moment. Of course, he'd like to do some last minute training, but he could do that afterwards. He usually preferred to do things alone but… "Hn. Fine."

Both the other genin seemed surprised before a fox-like grin broke out across the blond's face. "Great! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>The next morning, the young Uzumaki slowly stirred from his slumber as the first rays of the new day filtered into his room. He slowly sat up, bringing a hand to his still closed eye and rubbing it as he muttered groggily, before he stretched, letting out a yawn as his still hazy mind began to catch up with him.<p>

He began to wake up far faster than he once did, having grown used to waking up early as a certain sadistic sword wielding jonin required of him. He edged over to the corner of the bed and sat there, once again rubbing the sleep out of his eye as he opened one of his purple orbs for the first time in the morning.

Once he was up, he quickly ran through his morning routine. He got breakfast, a decently balanced breakfast of eggs, fruits and orange juice as opposed to his previous diet of cereal and ramen, brushed his teeth and took a shower.

After getting out, he put on one of his track suits and his sunglasses as well as one small addition to his usual attire; a pair of black wristbands. He grinned as he put these on, having prepared the seals on them just for the exams. Afterwords, he took stock of everything he'd be taking with him. Aside from the kunai, shuriken, etc. that would be loose in his pack for quick access, he'd be bringing with him five scrolls that were currently laid out before him, two of which were blank and the others all had storage seals containing all the weapons and supplies he and his team could need, which he could easily afford thanks to their recent missions, something his sensei had suggested.

He nodded to himself as he thought of how useful and convenient even this basic sealing jutsu was. The pervy sage was right; they should teach this at the academy. When he became Hokage, he'd make sure they taught at least the basics to the academy students.

After gathering his scrolls together and placing them in his pouch, the Rinnegan bearer made his way to the door.

* * *

><p>The blond arrived at the academy about half an hour before the deadline to find his teammates were already there waiting for him. Several other chunin had gathered outside the building, some doing warm ups, others talking about the exams and what to expect.<p>

"Hey guys." Naruto greeted with a wave as he approached the building.

"Good morning." Sakura replied with a nod as the Uzumaki approached them and came to a stop.

Sasuke smirked. "Hn. For a second, I thought you were chickening out." He said in a slightly mocking tone that made it clear he didn't really mean it.

"Yeah, right!" Naruto grinned confidently, bringing his fist to his open palm. "Not a chance! The three of us are going to own this exam."

"Then let's go. I don't feel like standing here waiting around." With that, Sasuke turned and walked towards the entrance, his teammates following suit.

A minute later, the three genin had just climbed the steps to the second floor and stepped into the hallway when they walked right into a crowd. All three frowned when the sounds of someone being stuck, grunting in response, and then skidding across the floor reached their ears. Taking a look, they saw what appeared to be two kids their age standing in front of a door marked 301 at the focus of he crowd.

Before the two, sitting on his rear on the ground and nursing a fresh bruise on his cheek with his wrist, a small amount of blood leaking from his mouth, was a boy. He had black hair cut in a bowl cut with matching large, rounded eyes and wore a green jumpsuit, orange leg warmers, a red forehead protector around his waist like a belt, and bandages around his hands and forearms. However, his most attention grabbing trait was that he had ridiculously thick eyebrows.

"Hah! You intend to take the Chunin Exams with lousy skills like that? You should just back out now, while you still can." One of the boys looking down on the bushy browed genin said.

Naruto looked around the hallway, wondering why all the genin had gathered here and feeling something was… off. It was then that he noticed the '301' on the door. His sensei had made sure to teach him how to break genjutsu, and though it wasn't his forte, he'd gotten pretty good at sensing and breaking them even without having his dojutsu active. This was aided by the fact that the Rinnegan gave him an affinity for all the elements, including yang and, more importantly in this case, yin, which included genjutsu in its sphere. He was the worst one on his team with it and he had no interest in that particular art beyond learning how to counter them. Still, this one was fairly obvious to him.

"Man, how could all these guys not notice they're being played? And they're supposed to be the best and brightest from the other nations?" Naruto mused. He squinted at the two 'genin' standing in front of the door, finding something familiar about him. After a few moments of looking intensely at the boy and his partner, he blinked. "Hey, isn't that Kotetsu and Izumo?" If it was, those had to be the absolute worst henge he'd ever seen.

Sakura scrutinized the boys in question and seemed as surprised as Naruto. "Hey, you're right…" She said, remembering how them as the two were almost always guarding the gates. She put her hands on her hips and frowned at the lack of effort on their part. "Geez, they didn't even bother to change anything about themselves other than their age and cloths. Talk about lazy."

"Hn, they must be trying to weed out the losers who wouldn't stand a chance here before the exams start." Sasuke commented before turning away. "Let's move on. If these guys can't see through this genjutsu, I say we should just leave them here." He wanted to face powerful opponents. If these guys couldn't even figure out they were on the _second floor_, he didn't want to waste his time on them.

There was a time they would have shown off by outing the disguised chunin's deception. Zabuza had made sure to beat that out of them during their group training, ensuring that they learned on of a ninja's most important rules. One that could win you fights and save lives, but was all too often ignored: 'never show more of your skills than necessary'.

As Sakura began to turn around someone caught her eye. She faced the crowd again and frowned, trying to tell if it was who she thought. She then called out, "Hey, Tenten!"

Both her teammates stopped and turned to face her just in time to see another kunoichi notice them and step out of the crowd, walking over to them with a wave. The girl had brown hair tied in two buns and dull brown eyes. She wore a pink, sleeveless blouse and dark green pants and a blue forehead protector. "Hey Sakura, good to see you. Why didn't you tell me you were going to be here? I had to hear Kakashi's team was going to try the exams from the rumor mill."

Sakura looked a little sheepish as she replied. "Sorry. I didn't really think about it."

"Um…" Naruto cut in. "Sorry to interrupt but, your name's Tenten, right? How do you know Sakura?"

Sakura turned back to her teammates, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry. Guys, let me introduce you to Tenten." She gestured to the bun-haired girl, who waved. "She graduated from the academy a year before us. We met at the hot springs. We happen to have a few things in common." Like having one extremely energetic and enthusiastic teammate, though Naruto was calmer and more in control now, and one stoic, arrogant and highly attractive one and a sensei with some odd quirks. Both also liked to relax from their respective hell training at the hot spring.

Tenten nodded and took a step forward. "Nice to meet you. Sakura's told me a lot about you two."

"Nice to meet you, too." Naruto greeted in return before giving her an appraising look and saying quietly. "Uh… do you and your team know-"

"That this is the second floor?" Tenten finished for him. "Yeah, we know, but my hot-blooded teammate overplayed his part and got singled out. Now where stuck acting like we don't know anything."

"Well that sucks." The blond commented. His expression then became curious when he recalled he mentioned his sensei. "Hey, how do you know Kakashi-sensei?"

"You mean aside from the fact that he's one of the most famous ninja in the village?" The bun haired girl replied, rolling her eyes. "Our teacher, Gai-sensei told us a lot about him. He considers himself his 'eternal rival'."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that and he spoke up for the first time, wanting to know more. "Is that so?"

Tenten turned to the Uchiha. "Yeah… I've seen them fight a few times and they're pretty evenly matched, but a lot of the times it seems like your sensei just wants to get rid of him. Gai-sensei's kind of… eccentric. I remember once Kakashi tricked him into settling for a game of rock-paper-scissors when he challenged him a fight." Seeing the baffled expressions on their faces, Tenten nodded. "I know, it was as embarrassing as it sounded, but he's actually a pretty good sensei… when he's not having us run endless laps around the village or something." She grumbled at the end.

Tenten then turned away. "Anyway, you guys should go before those two jerks decide to call you out and you get stuck here too. Good luck."

"Good luck to you too." Sakura said, waving at Tenten as she and her teammates took her advice.

Unnoticed by the three genin, Sakura's call to the older kunoichi had attracted the attention of her teammates. The bushy browed genin had stepped away from the crowed. He wiped his hand over his face, all his injuries and bruises vanishing with the motion as he watched their retreating forms, his gaze focused on the Uchiha symbol on Sasuke's back.

* * *

><p>The three genin were walking across a large, open room used for sparring, nearing a set of stairs. However, as they made their way across the room, a voice called out to them.<p>

"Hold on!" The three genin halted and turned around and looked to a balcony on the opposite end of the room. There, looking down on them was the genin with the oversized eyebrows, looking down on them with an expression that spoke of fierce determination.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he observed the green clad boy, noticing something off. '… _All the injuries he had are gone… was he faking?_' Indeed, the teen above them appeared to be unharmed.

"I am Rock Lee." The older genin identified himself. "You with the black eyes. If I'm not mistaken, you are the rookie of this year: Sasuke Uchiha, are you not?"

"Hn. What of it?" Sasuke answered as he looked up at the now named Lee, who leapt over the edge of the balcony and landed before them in a crouch.

The green clad teen's unwavering gaze focused on the Uchiha as he spoke, "I would like to fight you, right here and now."

Naruto frowned as he looked at the older genin, having also noticed that the bruises and blood that had previously marred his face were now absent. '_He must have been trying to hide his real strength back there… so why would he want to show off now?_'

"A fight? Right now?" The Uchiha heir asked.

"Yes. I wish to test my abilities against the progeny of the famous Uchiha clan." Rock Lee said, determination practically burning in his eyes. "But first…" his gaze turned to Sakura and though his expression became no less intense, a smile spread across his face light blush painted across his cheeks. "You're name is Sakura, right?"

The pink haired kunoichi blinked in confusion. "Uhh… yeah, why?"

The smile on the bushy browed genin's face broadened as he gave her a thumbs up and fell into a nice guy pose, complete with a spark of light from his teeth. "Sakura, please be my girlfriend! I promise to protect you with my life!"

The members of team 7 could only stare at him dully over the sudden shift in his demeanor. After a few seconds, Sakura managed to respond. "Definitely… not…"

Lee's face became a mask of despair and disappointment as his arms fell limply to his sides. "… Why not?"

"Because you're a weirdo." Sakura answered bluntly, causing the green clad teens head to fall forward and his shoulders to slump further.

Naruto snickered slightly and placed his hands behind his head as Lee stood still for a few moments before shaking his head as if to ward off the anguish he'd just experienced and fell back into his fighting stance. "Very well. I will do everything in my power to prove myself to you. But for now, Sasuke, do you accept my challenge?"

Sasuke scoffed, closing his eyes and giving his soon to be opponent a confident smirk. "You're challenging me even when you know of my lineage. You're even dumber than you look." His expression then turned serious, his eyes hardening into chips of ice. "If you want to know more about my clan, then I'll teach you the hard way."

Lee gave a smirk of his own. "Bring it on." '_How fortunate. I already get to face this year's number 1 rookie. Here and now, I will prove myself to Gai-sensei._'

Naruto huffed in annoyance, both at being ignored and at his teammate's arrogance. He inclined his head to look at Sasuke, his features twisted into a slight scowl. "Hey Sasuke, don't go showing off all our tricks before the exams start."

Sasuke scoffed. "Like I need you to tell me that."

Sakura took a step forward. "Wait a minute, you guys! There's less than thirty minutes left for us to register."

"This'll be over in five." With that, the Uchiha heir shot forward, rapidly closing the distance between himself and the older genin. Though Kakashi's training regiment had been no where near as intense as Zabuza's, his speed had nevertheless improved along with his reflexes.

As he neared his opponent, he threw a punch at his green clad opponent. Lee swept the attack to the side and responded with high kick, which the Uchiha bent backwards to dodge before leaping back.

Lee vanished, reappearing above Sasuke in a burst of speed greater than anything he'd ever seen from a chunin level ninja and spinning into a powerful roundhouse kick. "Severe Leaf Hurricane!"

Sasuke ducked down to avoid the blow, but the bushy browed genin placed his hand on the ground and used it and his momentum to spin into another, sweeping kick aimed at the Uchiha heir's face. Sasuke brought a left arm up to block, using his right to reinforce his guard and halted the attack, the force of the older genin's blow sending a brief flash of pain through his extremity.

The Uchiha retaliated with a kick of his own, forcing his opponent into the air, flipping in mid jump and landing on his feet as the raven haired boy shot forward and engaged him in a fierce exchange of taijutsu. The Sharingan wielder was growing frustrated, he'd had several close calls and had yet to come close to actually landing a blow on his adversary.

'_He's better than I thought he'd be._' The bushy browed genin mentally noted as he blocked a left hook from the Uchiha heir with his right arm. '_Truly, he's deserving of the title of genius. But…_'

Sasuke's eyes widened as Lee used the opening created by deflecting his attack to get within his guard. He was powerless to protect himself as Rock Lee rammed his left elbow forward, slamming it into the Uchiha heir's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and sending him a few feet off the ground. The green clad teen gave him no respite, shooting forward and kicking him, striking his chin and sending him sailing through the air.

He landed on the ground and rolled to a stop on his side, coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

Both his teammates looked on in shock at how easily the raven haired boy had been fended off. "Sasuke!" Sakura cried.

The young Uchiha rose up to one knee as he got his breathing under control. He glared at Lee as he brought his hand up and wiped off a small amount of blood that had trickled from his mouth from the blow.

"You are skilled, but you cannot defeat me." Lee said, looking down at the Uchiha. "Because right now, I am the strongest Leaf genin."

Sasuke took a deep breath and closed his eyes. '_So he is strong after all…Good. I'll have to take this more seriously._' A smirk grew across his face and he opened them and looked at his opponent, revealing the black in his eyes had bled away to the red of the Sharingan.

Sakura smiled at seeing this, believing that with this, Sasuke's victory was assured. Lee's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as he looked into those crimson orbs. '_So that is the famed Shairngan. I'm sorry, Gai-sensei, but I may need to break your rules. I may need to use _that _move._'

'_From the looks of it, he's just using extremely advanced taijutsu._' Sasuke thought to himself as he launched himself back into the fray. '_The Sharingan will allow me to read his moves, no matter how much faster than me he is!_'

Lee ducked under a punch from the Uchiha and spun into a low, sweeping kick, which Sasuke leapt over.

As he watched the battle, Naruto's eyes narrowed. Even with the Sharingan active, while he was defending himself better, Sasuke just couldn't get the upper hand. Deciding he wanted to see the battle in more detail, he channeled chakra into his eyes, activating his dojutsu.

His purple orbs widened behind his glasses as he sensed a new presence. Tearing his gaze away from the still ongoing battle, he looked up at the balcony to see that two more spectators had joined them.

One was Tenten and Naruto realized that Lee must be the hot blooded teammate she mentioned, while the other was a boy with long, black hair reaching the middle of his back and was tied back a few inches above the end in a loose ponytail and seemed to wear a small headband under his black forehead protector. His eyes showed he was a member of the Hyuuga clan. He wore a khaki shirt, dark brown shorts with bandages wrapped around his right arm, chest, and right leg.

To Naruto, the Hyuuga's eyes were glowing with chakra, the telltale sign that a dojutsu was active. Veins were bulging around those white orbs and the outline of its normally imperceptible pupil was visible. However, what drew the blond's attention was the fact that the older dojutsu user's intense gaze was focused on him, seeing his eyes and knowing that the blond had a dojutsu as well.

Naruto had read up on dojutsu while looking for information on his own and thus knew about the Hyuuga's Byakugan, though there weren't many specifics about its abilities written down, and was aware that, along with Sasuke's dojutsu and his own, it was one of the 'Three Great Dojutsu', the three known as the most powerful of all eye-based kekkei genkai. He knew that his cover had been partially blown.

Naruto sensed a hint of condescension in the Hyuuga's stare when he noticed his dojutsu, which stemmed from a combination of arrogance, his belief in his eyes superiority and that a failure would always be nothing but a failure. He was well aware Naruto was the dead last of his class, and therefore under normal circumstances, wouldn't have paid him any attention. In response to this, Naruto glared at the white eyes teen.

At the same time, the Hyuuga stared down at the blond with his arms crossed felt a small amount of surprise. He'd had similar thoughts to those of the blond, surprised the rookie facing his teammate was doing so well without his dojutsu, and could now see the glow indicating of an active dojutsu from the younger genin's concealed eyes and his own narrowed as he studied this new development.

As with many great clans, they were quite proud of their bloodline, believing themselves to be the strongest force in the leaf, and thus acquired as much knowledge as they could on their rivals, especially the dwindling Uchiha clan. While that knowledge wasn't complete, there were many dojutsu from other nations that they had vague knowledge of if any at all, they knew that aside from the aforementioned Uchiha and their Sharingan, their Byakugan was the only eye related bloodlines in the village.

So then, how did the blond kid, who he recognized as the dead last of his class and the infamous prankster of the village, have a dojutsu? As far as he was aware, he had neither Hyuuga nor Uchiha blood and the white eyed teen highly doubted he was of either lineage. So what was this new rival to his clan's kekkei genkai?

He also absently noted that the blond's chakra reserves were enormous. He'd never seen anyone possess this much chakra before, not even his sensei.

Suddenly, the blond tilted his head to look at him and his teammate, his eyes focusing on his Byakugan, staring at them with the same intensity as the Hyuuga's scrutinizing gaze. The Hyuuga matched his stare with one just as powerful.

The two glared at each other, almost trying to will the other to back down and avert their eyes as if they were fighting to prove which of their dojutsu was superior, until the sound of an impact and a grunt of pain from Sasuke drew their attention away from their contest of wills.

With Sasuke's Sharingan blazing, allowing him to read his opponents moves like an open book, but he was still at a disadvantage before Lee's greater taijutsu skill, speed and experience.

Sasuke managed to block another high kick from his opponent, but the force of the blow sent back a few feet, skidding across the ground.

"The Sharingan is certainly a useful tool, isn't it?" Lee questioned. "With it, you can read your opponents chakra and decipher his hand signs and movements, allowing you to guess what he's going to do, almost before he knows himself."

"And…? What's your point?"

"My point is that such an ability is pointless if you cannot keep up with your opponent. I use neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu, there are no tricks. My moves are simply extreme taijutsu, and it is the worst match up for your Sharingan. Let me show you what I mean!"

With that, he went on the offensive, vanishing in a burst of speed only to reappear behind Sasuke and spin into a sweeping kick, which the Uchiha heir leapt back to dodge.

Sasuke threw a powerful right hook at his green clad adversary, who brought his arms up in a cross guard to block. Lee allowed himself to be pushed back by the attack, jumping back a few feet. Sasuke leapt forward and threw a punch at his face, only for Lee to duck down. Sasuke's eyes widened as they followed him, aware he was wide opened and powerless to do anything about it.

Lee lashed out with a high kick, striking his jaw and sending him into the air, blood flying from his mouth as his lower jaw was slammed painfully against its upper half. '_Damn it! He's too fast! I can't keep up!_'

Both the other members of Team 7 watched, mouth's agape as Lee crouched down and vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing directly behind Sasuke in the air. The Uchiha heir turned his head and looked back at Lee out of the corner of his eyes. "This is… Dancing Leaf Shadow!"

"Good eye." Lee complimented. "Sasuke, you are a true successor of the Uchiha lineage, worthy of the title of genius. However, did you know that there are two different categories among ninja? There are those who inherit their power and do not have to work at it… and those who have to train everyday of our lives if we want to get anywhere. My goal is to prove that hard work beats out raw talent. And I'll prove it with this attack!" With that, he clawed out his fingers, causing the bandages around his left arm to unwrap.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in response, wondering, but having no intentions of finding out what he intended to do with the bandage now trailing in the air behind them. "Nice speech, but don't think it'll be that easy!" He spun in the air and unleashed a kick of his own, which Lee blocked with his knee, maneuvering the bandages to begin to wrap around Sasuke.

Both Naruto and Sakura prepared to move, able to tell that whatever the hot blooded genin was about to do to their teammate would no doubt be extremely painful…

…Only for a pinwheel to come out of nowhere and stick the bandage to a wall just as it was about to enclose around Sasuke for the first time. "That's…!" The large browed genin said.

"That's enough, Lee!"

Everyone present turned their attention to the source of the noise to find a large tortoise with a red shell with a yellow underside and swirls on the top, as well as around his eyes and a konoha forehead protector around its neck.

The bandage stretched as far as it could go, bringing Lee to a halt once it reached its limit. Both Sasuke and Lee flipped in the air, landing on their feet on opposite ends of the room. Sasuke immediately turned, sending a fierce look at his opponent who kneeled before the tortoise as his teammates moved to join him, silently fuming. He knew that if tortoise hadn't interfered, he'd have just lost the fight.

"So you were watching us the whole time?" Lee asked the reptile.

"Of course! That technique is forbidden, Lee, you know that!" The tortoise chastised.

"I'm sorry… It's just that I…"

'_He's getting chewed out… by a turtle._' Naruto thought incredulously as he watched Lee the reptile dress down the green clad teen.'_It must be his sensei's summon._'

"… Is that a summon?" Sakura questioned as she watched the scene with the same amount of disbelief as Naruto.

"Yep!" They heard Tenten say from behind them. Turning, they saw her and her Hyuuga teammate approaching them from behind. "He's our sensei's personal summon: Ningame." She said before looking to Lee and sighing. "Geez, he tells us that we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves, and not half an hour later he's challenging a rookie and using a kinjutsu… Why's he gotta be like this all the time?"

The Hyuuga scoffed.

"He's obsessed with proving his belief that through hard work, one can move beyond their destined station." He turned a cold eye towards his kneeling teammate. "You know as well as I do how far he'll go to prove his conviction."

Something occurred to Sakura as she looked at the Hyuuga. "You must be Neji. Tenten told me about you."

He nodded curtly. "She informed me of such. You must be Sakura Haruno…" He turned to look at Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki." Finally, his gaze fell on Sasuke. "… And Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hn." Sasuke responded, still looking at his former opponent while Naruto grinned.

"Nice to meet you! Hey, do you know Hinata?" Naruto asked Neji.

"Yes." He said, his voice possessing a slight edge that wasn't there before causing Naruto to frown. "She's my first cousin."

Before Naruto could say anything else, the conversation was interrupted as the tortoise's voice rose high enough to drown out his next words. "You think you can get away with a bunch of lame excuses like that!? A shinobi never reveals his techniques unless it's absolutely necessary! It's a basic rule, you should know that! Are you prepared for the punishment for your actions?"

"Yes sir…" Lee replied dejectedly, holding his head down.

"All right. If you will, Gai-sensei!" As soon as the Ningame finished speaking, a poof of smoke burst into existence on his shell. When it cleared, a man with attire matching Lee's with the addition of a flak jacket, even possessing the same bowl haircut and, shockingly enough, even larger eyebrows. He possessed a stronger build than his student as well as high cheek bones.

"Hey, everybody! Life treating you good?" The man who was obviously their sensei said with a smile. "Yo, Lee."

All three members of team seven gaped at the jonin. "That's Gai-sensei? H-he looks like an older version of Lee, but his eye brows are even thicker! A- are they even natural!?" Sakura tone held hints of shock and unease. Gai then brought his hand up and made a thumbs up, a spark of light reflecting off his teeth. "S- so lame!"

"That's enough, Lee." Gai waved off the insults, calming his mini-clone.

Tenten sighed. "Here we go…"

Gai suddenly shot forward, rearing his fist back and throwing a punch at the green clad genin's face, sending him flying half way across the room, landing on the ground in a heap. The jaws of the three rookies dropped while Tenten pinched the bridge of her nose and Neji closed his eyes in annoyance.

Gai walked over to Lee and crouched before him as he picked himself up.

"I'm sorry Lee but… it's for your good." He said to his student, his voice cracking slightly at the end.

"S- sensei…" Tears began to stream from the faces of both the student and the teacher.

"Oh, Lee…"

"Sensei…"

"It's alright Lee, it's over. You don't need to say anymore." Gai said.

Lee suddenly shot forward and into his sensei's arms. The jonin embraced his mini-clone, and the pair tearfully cried out each other's names as a genjutsu of a cliffside sunset, complete with water splashing against the rocks, appeared in the background of this emotional display.

This image horrified Sakura and Naruto, both of whom frantically tried to break the illusion to no avail.

"Kai!... Oh god, why won't it break?!" Sakura yelled, her eyes wide with horror and revulsion.

After his futile attempt to break the genjutsu, Naruto had activated his Rinnegan, hoping the superior vision and genjutsu breaking abilities of his dojutsu could see through this image. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. '_N- no way! Even with the Rinnegan, I can't see through it! What is this?!_' At least it was slightly less dreadful in black and white.

Sasuke meanwhile, looked on in annoyance. His mind too preoccupied with another thought to be consumed with disgust and horror at the nightmarish scene. '… _How could I lose to someone that lame?_'

Of course, this was probably a good thing as he likely would have attempted to use his Sharingan to break the technique otherwise and thus been cursed with its perfectly preserved image for the rest of his life.

Like he needed another mental scar.

The two broke apart. Gai put his hand on Lee's shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "It's ok, Lee. Mistakes are just another part of adolescence, don't let it drag you down!"

"You are so kind to me, Gai-sensei!"

"Now, as punishment, run one hundred laps around the practice field!"

"Yes, sir!"

"What's wrong with you two!?" Tenten broke in, taking a step towards them with a clearly irritated expression. "Have you forgotten about the Chunin Exams!?"

"Oh, yes that's right." Gai said, pausing for a moment. "All right Lee. Since you've disrupted the Chunin Selection Exams, this warrants a more severe punishment. Give me five hundred laps!"

"Yes sensei!" Lee said enthusiastically.

Everyone just stared at the two dully. "… They're insane." Sakura deadpanned before turning to Tenten. "… Are they always like this?" This was far worse than she'd made it out to be when they talked about their teams.

The bun haired girl's head fell forward in despair. "… All the time…" She said lamentingly.

Gai then looked to the other genin in the room, focusing on the members of Team Seven. '_Hmm… if I'm not mistaken, those are Kakashi's kids._' "By the way, How's Kakashi these days?"

Naruto shrugged. "Oh, same as always I'd guess. Did he go around reading a certain orange book last time you saw him?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I see he has not changed his un-youthful habits." Gai responded with a slight, raising a few eyebrows at the word 'unyouthful', before the jonin placed a hand on his chin and chuckled while his mouth curled into a smirk. "So, I take it he told you about me?"

"No, he never said a word about you. We just heard about your rivalry from Tenten." Naruto deadpannded, causing the bushy browed man to jerk, his expression twisting into a grimace. "You know, when she said you were a match for Kakashi-sensei, somehow I expected someone I could take more seriously, but you seem pretty goofy."

"What!?" Lee challenged.

"Settle down, Lee." Gai said, once more calming his mini-clone before looking to team seven again, his smirk returning. "Well, you may find it hard to believe that Kakashi and I are rivals, but you know what they say-" Suddenly, he vanished, reappearing behind them and continuing his sentence without missing a beat. "-looks can be deceiving."

Naruto and his teammates spun on their heels, shock clear in their features at the jonin's speed.

"Just to let you know, our current record is 50 wins and 49 losses in my favor." Enjoying their astonishment for a moment, he pulled out a kunai. "Now, why don't you all run along. Lee, your punishment will be postponed until the exams are over." He turned to Neji and Tenten. "Neji, Tenten, I don't need to tell you that you two have come far in past year. I know that you're ready for whatever you'll face ahead of you, and you're far clear minded than this knucklehead here." He gestured at Lee before throwing his kunai at the pinwheel, knocking it to the ground and causing Lee's bandage to fall loosely to the floor.

"Take care, my students!" With that farewell, the jonin and his summon vanished in poofs of smoke.

Naruto turned to look at Lee, who was rewrapping his bandages. His eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses when he noticed his hands were heavily scarred.

"Sasuke…" Lee began. "I was not being entirely truthful when we fought. I told you I was the strongest leaf genin, but that was not true. There is another top genin, you are just a stepping stone. Next time we fight, I will crush you." Sasuke's eyes narrowed in response to that declaration.

Neji gave a confident smirk and moved towards the stairs. "I have to agree with my teammate. I look forward to seeing what your team is capable of, though I have to pity you."

Naruto scoffed at that. "Save your pity. You're going to regret those words when we wipe the floor with you!"

Neji gave a grunt in response, similar to Sasuke. "We'll see." He replied, not wishing to waste anymore time on this conversation. He walked ahead, following after his teammate, who simply jumped to the top of the stairs in a single bound.

Tenten placed her hands on her hips and shook her head as she watched her teammates. "Those guys…" She said before following them, turning and waving at the rookie genin. "See ya."

Sasuke glared after the green clad genin. Once all three of the members of Team Gai were out of sight, he spoke. "Next time, I'll drive him to his knees."

"Maybe." Naruto said nonchalantly. "But you know, he probably wasn't going all out either. Did you notice?" Both his teammates turned to him. "His hands are covered in scars. He's probably trained himself into the ground, everyday, and he's been at this longer than us." He then grinned. "We're going to have to go all out if we want to win."

Sasuke smirked. "Hn."

"Come on, Sakura, Sasuke. Let's go." Naruto took the lead as they began making their way to stairs.

* * *

><p>Soon enough, the three genin reached room 301 and were met with an unexpected surprise. Standing there waiting for them just before the door was Kakashi, his book hidden away.<p>

"There you are. Glad to see you all got here in one piece." Kakashi said noted with a slightly lazy tone.

"Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I just came here to wish you all luck. You know, there's something I neglected to mention… the chunin exams can only be taken as a team. Had any one of you not shown up, the exams would have for you, ended here and now." Kakashi responded, pausing at their surprised expressions, then he gave them his eye-smile.

"Once upon a time, I would have worried that one of you would back out." He didn't need to say that this was Sakura. "But I didn't doubt for a moment that all three of you would show up, nor do I doubt that you'll go far in these exams. I wish I could say I was solely responsible for you coming as far as you have, but regardless, know that I'm proud to call you members of my team." Seeing the genin, even Sasuke, smile, he stepped aside. "That's all I came here to say. Now go!"

The three then walked past their sensei. Flanking Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura each opened one of the large double doors before them.

The moment they stepped into the room, all eyes were drawn on them. The members of team seven were met with the glares of virtually every other genin in the room, all from various villages including their own and many older than the rookies. The newcomers felt a wave of killing intent wash over them as the assembled older shinobi tried to intimidate the obvious newbies.

Naruto, Sasuke and, though she faltered for a moment from the surprise of seeing so many individuals staring so fiercely at her, Sakura all returned their glares, showing that they wouldn't back down and making it clear they wouldn't back down.

Both Naruto and Sasuke even met the killing intent with their own, the former being trained in its use by Zabuza, and both felt a hint of satisfaction when a few would-be adversaries averted their gaze.

However the tension that permeated the air around the three newcomers was broken a moment later with a loud, ecstatic cry of, "Sasuke!"

Before said Uchiha heir could react, Ino Yamanaka jumped on him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Where've you been? You have no idea how much I missed you!"

Sakura's eye twitched. With a slight growl, she yelled, "Get off of him, Ino-pig!"

She was very thankful that she'd heeded Haku's advice and for the fact that she had better control of her emotions at this moment. Earlier, she would have been blinded by indignation at Ino touching 'her' Sasuke in such a way and while that was still there, it didn't consume her thoughts. And so, she didn't miss the extremely annoyed look on the Sharingan wielder's face.

"Oh, so you're here too, Forehead? You haven't changed a bit. Still sporting that big ugly billboard-brow, I see." Ino replied, pulling her eye lid down and sticking her tongue out.

A tick mark appeared on Sakura's head. "What did you say?"

"So you guys are here too, huh?" A lazy voice was heard.

Shikamaru and Choji, who was currently munching on a bag of potato chips, walked over and joined them.

"Hey guys, how've you been?" Naruto asked.

"Eh, same as always. Man, this is all so troublesome…"

Naruto chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You think _everything _but sleeping is troublesome."

"That's not true, cloud-watching is relaxing." Shikamaru replied glibly.

Naruto just laughed at that before another voice cut in. "Heh, looks like the gang's all here."

They turned to see Team Eight approaching them. Kiba stood at the front of the group with his usual smug grin, with Shino at his side and Hinata hiding behind him.

"H- Hi, Naruto." Hinata greeted with a slightly meek tone from behind Kiba. When Naruto looked at her, she turned her gaze to the ground as a light blush spread across her face.

"This is gonna be fun. Hope you're all ready to lose, 'cause we're gonna wipe the floor with you guys!" Kiba boasted.

"You're acting awfully confident, aren't you Kiba?" Naruto questioned with a smirk. "You should be careful with that, or _someone_ might take it upon themselves to knock you down a couple of pegs."

"Oh, yeah?" Kiba responded, his grin becoming slightly feral and threatening. "Well let's see you try it!"

"You guys are so noisy. You should really keep it down." A voice none of the three teams recognized called out.

Turning around, the rookie 9 saw a young man in his late teens approaching them. He wore a dark purple, high collar shirt and matching pants, a white under-shirt, fingerless gloves with armored plates on the back of the hand, a white cloth waistband worn at an angle. He had gray hair worn in a ponytail, large circular glasses, and wore a Konoha forehead protector.

"You guys are the rookies just out of the academy, right? Geez, you're carrying on like excited school girls… This isn't a picnic, you know." He chastised as he reached them.

"Who do you think you are?" Ino asked, angered by his criticism.

The purple clad genin gave them a polite smile. "I'm Kabuto. But instead of focusing on me, you should look behind you."

The nine genin did and immediately noticed that everyone in the room was glaring at them (still in the case of Team 7). Particularly fierce looks were coming from those that hailed from Amegakure.

Several of the genin became nervous at being the subject of such hostility. Kiba lost some of the confident air that constantly hung around him, Ino shivered and Hinata took a step backward.

Team Seven was largely unaffected, though Sakura was a bit put off that her posture faltered for a brief moment. But then, one of their more common group training sessions had been running through the forest with Zabuza hot on their trails, hunting them for two days with intense pain being the punishment for being caught.

If they could be easily intimidated by a bunch of genin after that, they really would have been hopeless.

"Those guys behind you are from Amegakure. They've got pretty short tempers." Kabuto warned. "The exams have everyone a bit on edge, so pipe down or you'll cause a scene." He chuckled slightly as he watched the rookies take stock at their competition. "I can hardly blame you for being clueless. You guys remind me of myself back when I took this test for the first time."

"You said you're name is Kabuto, right?" Sakura asked.

"That's right." He nodded.

"So this is your second time?" She asked.

Kabuto reached for his pouch as he answered. "Nope, this is my seventh time. The exam is held twice a year, this is my fourth year."

"This is your seventh time?" Naruto repeated incredulously. "No offense, but your team must really suck."

"You'd think so." Kabuto chuckled. "But I assure you, the exams are really just that hard."

"So, you got any pointers?" Naruto tilted his head slightly.

"Better than that." The older genin replied, pulling out a deck of cards from his pouch. "Since you guys are new and all, I'll share some of the info I've collected with you, with my ninja info cards."

"Ninja info cards?" Sakura parroted as Kabuto kneeled to the ground, placing the deck before him.

He placed his finger on top of the cards. "Basically, these cards have information burned on them with chakra. I have over two hundred cards, containing all the information I've gathered in these four years." He flipped up the top card on the deck and showed it to the rookies, revealing it to be blank. "They may look blank, but…" He then placed the card face up on the floor before making a one handed seal and focusing his chakra into it, producing a small cloud of smoke.

"What are you doing?" Ino wondered aloud.

"My chakra reveals the information on these cards." He answered, and sure enough when the smoke cleared, the once blank card now showed a map of the elemental countries, detailing the number of participants from each nation with a bar and a number. "This is the number of participants and the countries they're from."

"Do your cards have information on individuals?" Sasuke asked, thinking of his match against Lee.

"Of course. The information isn't perfect, but I do have it. Just tell me what you know about someone and I'll see what I've got." Kabuto replied with a smirk.

"Gaara of the Sand and Rock Lee of the Leaf."

"Can you tell me about Lee's teammates, Tenten and Neji Hyuuga?" Naruto asked, remembering that the white eyed boy was aware of his dojutsu. Knowing he might have informed his teammates, he wanted to know as much about them as he could.

He didn't notice Hinata's surprised look at the mention of her cousin.

"Do me a favor." Kiba began with a wide grin before pointing his thumb at Naruto. "Show us what you've got on Naruto Uzumaki."

The rest of the rookie 9 turned to Kiba, more than a few with raised eyebrows. Naruto frowned. "What the hell, Kiba?" He asked before a grin broke out a across his face. "Oh, scared of going against me without knowing what I've been up to lately?"

"Hah." Kiba gave a bark of a laugh. "I just want everyone to see how badly you suck and let the air out of that big head of yours."

"Oh, like you're one to talk." Naruto replied before he shrugged and turned back to the cards, a serious look that most of those present weren't used to seeing from him crossing his features. "Whatever. This will tell us how accurate these cards really are."

"Good point." Sakura said.

"Well, if it's ok with you." Kabuto responded before sighing as he picked up his deck. "Man, you already know their names and villages, that's no fun at all…" With a quick swipe of his hand, he'd pulled out five cards. With a quick application of chakra followed by a puff of smoke, the first card was revealed, depicting Rock Lee.

"Let's start with Rock Lee. He's one year older than you guys and he and his team have completed 20 D-ranks and 12 C-ranks. Their sensei is Maito Gai. According to my information, he was the dead last in the academy during his year, possessing no skills to speak of, but his taijutsu has improved spectacularly since then. While he and his team were ready last year, their sensei felt it best to let them get more experience in the field, so this is their first time taking the exam too."

The following card showed Tenten. "Next is Tenten, the team's long range specialist. She's basically a walking armory, using sealing jutsu to carry an insane number of weapons of all varieties, and she supposedly never misses her target. She also has a fair amount of skill at close range combat."

The next card was revealed to show Neji. "And lastly for Team Gai, There's Neji Hyuuga, a prodigy from the renowned Hyuuga clan. Using his clan's dojutsu, the Byakugan, he fights by sending his chakra into his opponent's body through palm and finger strikes, which interacts with their chakra network and causes damage to the surrounding organs. A skilled Hyuuga is capable of killing an opponent with a single strike to the heart."

A few of the genin turned to Hinata, mildly surprised at hearing what her clan was capable of. The shy Hyuuga girl shrunk back under their looks.

"Wow, Hinata. Who'd have guessed someone as gentle as you was capable of that?" Ino asked before giving an amused smirk. "It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"

Kabuto coughed to get their attention. "Excuse me, but I wasn't finished yet." Pausing to make sure they were focused on him, he held up Gaara's card. "Next up is Gaara of the Desert. He's been on eight C-ranks and, get this, one B-rank as a genin. His teammates are Temari and Kankuro, who also happen to be his older siblings. The three of them are the children of the Kazekage. Since he's a foreigner I don't have a lot of information on him, but rumor has it that he's returned from all his missions without so much as a scratch."

"Seriously? This guy's been on a B-rank and he's never even been injured?" Shikamaru asked, visibly stunned, before his face twisted into a slight grimace. "I knew this was going to be troublesome…"

Sasuke smirked at the prospect of fighting someone that strong. Sakura frowned at the same thought. Naruto's expression was neutral but inwardly, he thought fighting Gaara might be fun, but also dangerous as he recalled their first meeting. If the redhead had really been serious about killing his brother back there, and the way he spoke and his sibling's reactions suggested he was, he'd probably go straight for the kill.

One thing the Jinchuriki was certain of, with so many powerful opponents, the exams were going to be wild. He hadn't felt this excited since the old man decided to let them take their first C-rank mission.

Kabuto pulled out the final card, depicting the young Uzumaki. The picture was a bit outdated, lacking his sunglasses and still having his old blue eyes. "And finally, we have Naruto Uzumaki. Now let's see. He and his teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno are students under Kakashi Hatake. He's gone on six D-ranks, two C-ranks and…what the?" His eyes narrowed in confusion before he looked up at the members of Team Seven. "One A-rank mission as a rookie genin?"

All the other rookie genin's heads turned to Naruto and his teammates, many of their faces displaying shock or disbelief. Shino settled for furrowing his brow, the closest one would get to him displaying his interest, and Ino frowned as she recalled what Naruto and Haku had told her.

Kiba was the first to speak. "Are you kidding me? You guys have already been on an A-rank mission?" He spoke in an incredulous tone.

Ino placed a finger on her chin and looked to the ceiling. "Oh yeah, Naruto told me about that…"

Said Rinnegan bearer rubbed the back of his head with a slightly sheepish grin. He would like to brag about it, but thinking of that mission was a reminder of how he'd screwed up back then, and that they'd only survived because their opponent happened to be extremely kind hearted. "Yeah, it's a long story. The client's nation was in a really bad way and they couldn't afford an A-rank mission. So he lied about how dangerous it would be, probably because he knew we'd have a jonin with us, and hoped for the best."

Kabuto nodded, bringing his hand to his face and adjusting his glasses with his index finger. "I see. Nevertheless, just surviving an A-rank mission is impressive for genin, especially green ones." He returned to his card. "It says here that he was the dead last in the academy, but he's had a dramatic rise in skill in the past few months. Most notably, he managed to learn a B-rank ninjutsu, the Shadow Clone Technique, around the time he graduated. He can also use its A-rank kinjutsu variant and has recently begun learning sealing jutsu."

Naruto furrowed his brow as he looked to the purple clad teen. How had Kabuto known all that? He hadn't even used his sealing jutsu in the field yet! He supposed he should be thankful the gray haired man didn't somehow know about his dojutsu.

Well, at least they knew his information was accurate. And Naruto still had many surprises left in store.

"As you can see, we've had quite the turn out this year." Kabuto said as he placed the cards back on the deck and put them away. "Konoha, Suna, Kusa, Taki, Oto… The best of the best from the various hidden villages have assembled here for the exams." After a moment, he closed his eyes and added, "Well, I'm not so sure about Oto. They're a minor village that just sprung up last year, so they're no namers at this point. But the other villages are full of talented kids."

As most of the other genin considered just what they were up against, Naruto grinned and turned to the crowd, raising his fist in challenge. "All right, all you punks out there, listen up! The name's Naruto Uzumaki! And if any of you are brave enough to take me on, then bring it!" His grin took on a hint of bloodlust, a trait he'd picked up from hanging out with Zabuza and Anko so much, as he made a beckoning hand gesture. "I'll take every one of you bastards down! Ya got that!?"

The blond's challenge was met with many responses. Most of the spectators were annoyed that a rookie would be so audacious. Others were amused and some found his bold statement refreshing or encouraging.

Ino jabbed a finger in her fellow blond's direction, knowing that he probably turned himself into a target with that statement, and the rest of the rookies by association. "What's wrong with him!?" She yelled at Sakura.

Sakura simply sighed, bringing her hand to her forehead. "Some things never change…"

Sasuke smirked, feeling similar to the blond about the upcoming challenge.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru grumbled while Choji continued to munch on his snack.

Kankuro turned an annoyed eye at the blond, remembering his previous humiliation. "That's that damned kid from the other day."

Gaara simply stared inexpressively in the rookies' direction. He considered how strong willed the boy seemed, together with the skill he showed the other day… Yes. He and his onyx eyed teammate would make good sacrifices to his mother.

Tenten sent an amused smile the young Uzumaki's way. "Well, he's certainly a lively one."

"Hn." Neji scoffed. "Quite the loud mouth, isn't he? He must be either very brave or very stupid to issue such a challenge." He then recalled the blond's dojutsu and once more wondered what it was. Unfortunately, the Byakugan couldn't help him on that front. If he tried to look past his sunglasses, he'd just wind up seeing through to his bone structure.

"Heh. Talk about conceited." The spiky haired Oto genin said. "Hey, that four eyed shitstain called us no namers, didn't he? Why don't we play with them a bit?"

The bandaged leader of the Oto trio chuckled. "Good idea. Why don't we help him out with his information? Let's show them… just how vicious the sound can be."

With that, all three of them vanished in a burst of speed, maneuvering through the room faster than the eye could see. The eyes of the Sand Siblings and Team Gai darted as they detected their movements. They were the only ones to notice them.

Kabuto shrugged at the blond's actions before he, said Rinnegan bearer, and Sasuke sensed the approaching Oto genin, their own eyes turning towards the approaching attackers.

Sasuke decided to do nothing. He wanted to see what to expect from their opponents in the exam. Not just the sound genin, but Kabuto as well. He'd step in if things went too far and Kabuto was actually in danger, but otherwise just observe.

Naruto, on the other hand, readied himself to step in. He wasn't willing to stand by and let a comrade be attacked.

The spiky haired Oto genin leapt into the air. Remembering the stunt the blond genin pulled the previous day when his younger brother figure had been grabbed by Kankuro, the sound genin threw a wave of shuriken at Kabuto and all the rookies.

All of them jumped back to dodge, a few like Choji and Ino needing to be grabbed and pulled away. This put too much distance between Naruto and Kabuto for him to interfere.

The next instant, the bandaged oto genin was directly in front of Kabuto. He swiped his arm at the gray haired man, his sleeve pulled back to uncover the odd metal gauntlet he wore, who leaned back to dodge.

'_These are Oto genin…_' Kabuto thought, his mouth curling into a smirk as the attack narrowly missed him, only for his expression to morph into one of shock as his glasses cracked and shattered.

"What the?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what happened. Shikamaru frowned as he tried to discern if the attack had grazed him or if there was some sort of trick behind the mummified boy's attack.

At that instant, Naruto appeared in front of the bandaged boy, his teeth gritted in anger and a growl leaving his throat. These guys had not only attacked a fellow leaf genin, but his friends too, entirely unprovoked.

The bandaged genin, surprised to find any retaliation, raised his gauntlet to defend as Naruto threw a punch, only for him to discover it was a feint. As Naruto's fist impacted with the cold steel that covered the sound genin's hand, he spun and the bandaged teen's single visible eye looked down to see the blond's leg rapidly moving towards his face, already too close for him to defend.

Naruto's kick impacted with the oto ninja's face, sending him flying through the air, grunting from the impact. He hit the floor with a thud and skid across the wooden surface as his spiky haired teammate rushed forward to engage Naruto in taijutsu, throwing a right hook which the blond deflected.

When the bandaged genin flipped to his feet, he coiled his body, ready to spring back into the fray and take down the blond for his resistance when his enhanced hearing picked up movement. Unfortunately, he wasn't in a position to do anything as he felt something press against his neck. He looked down, and then to the side, to see the object in question was a kunai, held against his jugular by Sasuke. The Uchiha had decided he'd seen enough and that he'd better help his teammate before it became three against two.

A wave of senbon came at Naruto, only for Sakura to jump in their path and deflect them with a kunai as the spiky haired oto genin jumped back, joining his kunoichi teammate. While the girl looked on impassively, he grit his teeth in frustration.

"That was a neat trick." The Uchiha heir complimented his captive, looking down at him with cold eyes. "You caused damage without even touching him. What kind of jutsu was that, I wonder?" He mused, not actually expect the sound genin to answer.

Despite his position, the sound genin's eye curled with amusement, hinting at a malicious grin beneath his bandages. "Keep watching, it's about to get a lot more interesting."

Sasuke frowned but before he could question this, his eyes, as well as those of his teammates widened as the sound of someone voiding their stomach reached their ears. All their heads turned to Kabuto, who was on his hands and knees dry heaving, taking a rather unwilling second look at his breakfast on the floor before him.

The world was spinning for the purple clad genin. He could barely keep from falling over and no matter how he tried; he couldn't suppress the wave of nausea that had come over him. Of course, he'd expected this. He'd identified the type of attack the moment his glasses had shattered and knew at that instant that it was going to suck.

"He threw up?" Naruto asked in mild shock, wondering what kind of attack could cause that. Like his teammates, he'd seen that Kabuto had dodged the attack but was somehow still hurt.

"Kabuto!"

Sakura rushed to her fellow Konoha genin's side to help, thinking the same thing Naruto was. The difference was that out of the three, she was the smartest and with her mind now applied to her ninja career as opposed to simple book smarts and having trained under Haku, her analytical abilities had vastly improved.

'_I know he dodged that attack just now, so what happened?_' Her mind processed what just happened as she helped the gray haired ninja. '_That weird gauntlet on his arm…'_ Everyone in range had caught a glimpse of the strange gauntlet_. '…and the way Kabuto reacted…_' She thought recalling the way his glasses shattered and he threw up. What kind of force could cause all that? After a moment, her face showed realization and her head jerked up slightly. '_Of course! It's so obvious!_'

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he too tried to discern the attack, before they widened as an odd ringing sound reached his ears. While he was distracted, the mummy-like oto genin had brought his hand to his gauntlet and flicked it with his finger.

To the Uchiha heir, the room was now slightly distorted, his sense of balance thrown off as the sound reverberated through his skull.

"What's wrong? You don't look so hot." The sound genin said as Sasuke's hand moved about an inch away from his neck.

That was all he needed to get away. The mummy like teen dropped down and spun into a kick which the Uchiha leapt backwards to avoid, falling to one knee and bringing his hand to his forehead as he landed, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.

"Sasuke?" Sakura turned to him, knowing exactly what happened.

The sound genin joined his teammates and glared at the members of team seven. He didn't really care about the fact that he'd needed to use his weapon more than he expected. After all, the way he showed it off before against Kabuto would probably alert at least a few of their adversaries that they didn't want to let him get close anyway, whether or not they figured out how he attacked, and he was confident there wasn't much anyone could do to counter it. He was, however, angry about being struck and captured. "I hope you enjoyed your moment of triumph. After all, miracles only happen every once in a blue moon."

Naruto met the one eyed genin's fierce stare with one his own. "Oh yeah? Well why don't you try that again? I'll be happy to re-introduce your face to the floor!"

Before anything else could be said, there was an explosion of smoke at the front end of the room.

"Alright, pipe down you worthless bastards!" A voice called out from the cloud. It cleared to reveal the exam proctors, all of whom wore gray utility flak jackets. Their leader, the tallest among them, wore a black long coat and a bandana-style forehead protector. He had two long slash marks that ran down his face and black eyes. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Ibiki Morino, the proctor of the first test of the Chunin Exams."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked it. Please review.<strong>

**Have a happy New Year.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey. Here's chapter 8.**

**I've gotten some questions regarding my other stories, so let me clear up why they haven't been updated in so long. I assure you, I'm not abandoning them. **

**The reason I haven't updated my Nine and Seven story, aside from the fact that I've come to like this story more, because of some later plans for it and how it diverges from canon later, is because I'm not sure what I want to do with it. There are a lot of things I'd like to change about Nine and Seven. For example, I think I skipped too much character development, made Naruto and Fuu too strong and I'm not satisfied with the earlier chapters in general, so I'm considering rewriting it. On the other hand, I've closely followed stories in the past and have been really annoyed when the writer suddenly decided to start over when I thought it was fine**** and I'm hesitant to do that to you guys. I'm still toying with the idea and exactly what I'd do differently, ways to make it diverge from canon more, and maybe making it less light hearted, so it's on hold for now.**

**As for my Shattered Fates story, I'm definitely going to rewrite that later.**

**I've also pretty much decided on the pairing for this story. It will be Naruto x Fuu and Yugito. However, both of them have already achieved chunin rank, or higher, in this story, so neither will show up for a while. Sorry to anyone hoping to see them in the exam. **

**Also, some people have voiced that I shouldn't use Fuu again because she's already in the main pairing for my other story. Let me say this about that. Naruto x Fuu is my favorite pairing, and I don't think there's near enough of it on this site. That being said, I get annoyed with writers who only write their favorite pairing. Like many of you I'm sure, I like variety in my stories. To those people, rest assured, I'm planning three other Naruto stories, two of which I've already decided on the main pairing and they will not be Naruto x Fuu. As for the third, I'm undecided on a lot about it, the pairing included. Since I'm focusing on my current stories, you probably won't see them for a while though.**

**Well, without further ado, let's get to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>All the assembled genin had their full attention focused on the imposing, scarred form of the first proctor who looked past all the examiners, sending a glare at team seven and the sound genin.<p>

"To start with, you six!" He said, pointing to them. "Knock it off, who told you, you could fight!? Do you want to be failed before we've even begun!?"

"Sorry, guess we got a little carried away," Naruto said, placing his hands behind his head and plastering a grin on his face as he looked to the proctor.

The leader of the sound genin turned to the scarred man, his back hunched over and his head bent oddly. "Yeah, sorry. We're a little bit jumpy, this being our first time and all."

"Hn," Ibiki grunted in response, an amused grin briefly crossed his features before his stern gaze washed over all the prospective chunin. "I'll only say this once. There will be no combat without the permission of your proctor, and even then lethal force is prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of disobeying me will be immediately disqualified. Do you understand me?"

The spiky haired sound genin gave a derisive snort. "In other words, this stage of the exams for pansies."

"Now, if you're ready, we'll begin the first stage. Turn in you paperwork and you'll be given a number that determine your assigned seat. We'll start the written test once you're all seated."

Naruto froze. "Wha… written…?" He began. "Damn it!" He snarled under his breath.

Minutes later, the blond and all the other test takers were seated in a rather large exam room with chunin proctors lined up along the walls. Hinata sat right beside him, but aside from her no one he knew was nearby.

The young Rinnegan bearer looked absolutely miserable as he held his head down. It didn't matter how much he'd studied, it didn't matter how much how much he'd learned, it didn't matter how confident he was he'd be able to pass this exam. None of that changed the fact that he absolutely hated written tests!

He gave a depressed sigh as he stared down at the paper before him and awaited the beginning of what he was certain would be the worst part of the exam.

"Naruto…" He heard Hinata say. He turned to look at her and she gave him an encouraging smile with a slight blush. "Good luck. L- let's do our best."

"Yeah," Naruto replied with a smile of his own, causing her blush to deepen.

"Alright listen up! I'm only going to say this once!" Ibiki said gruffly as he stared out at the exam takers. Once he saw no one was stupid enough to interrupt, he continued, taking a piece of chalk and writing on the board behind him without turning to face it. "There are several rules to this exam. I'll write them on the board as I explain, and there will be no questions, so don't even think about interrupting."

After letting this sink in, he turned to the board and wrote as he explained the rules.

"First off, everyone will start with ten points. The test will have ten questions, each worth one point. For every question you get wrong, you will lose a point from your overall score. So if, for example, you miss three questions, then you'll be left with seven points, understand?" He sincerely hoped no one present was dense enough to need further clarification. Thankfully, no one spoke up, so he moved on. "The second rule is that this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of you and your teammates."

"Wha?" Sakura said quietly, her facial expression showing a hint of fear. She knew Naruto was much smarter than he was when he graduated, but even with his clones, was two months of intense studying enough for him to be able to pass?

'_Calm Down._' Sakura told herself, bringing her hand to her chest and taking a breath to help in that endeavor. '_Naruto will do fine. There's no way that after all this that he'd let something like this hold him back. Besides, even if he missed every question, Sasuke and I should be able to carry him… but, what's with this point system?_'

"This third rule is that during this exam, anyone caught cheating will have two points deducted from their overall score for each offense. Those who lose all ten of their points will be asked to leave."

"We've got our eyes on you." Kotetsu grinned as he reclined in his chair, freaking out several of the genin.

"Anyone caught cheating isn't worthy of being called a chunin." Ibiki said before grinning slightly. "If you want to be shinobi, then show us what exceptional shinobi you can be. Show us that you are all proud ninja."

"And now, for the final rule," The scarred proctor began, pausing to let the tension build. "Anyone who loses all of their initial points or fails to answer a single question correctly… will be failed along with their teammates!" He took a moment to enjoy the reaction of several of the genin, worried either they would screw it up for their teams or that a team member would drag them all down. "The final question won't be given out until the last 15 minutes of the testing period. You have one hour. Now… Begin!"

As soon as he spoke these words, all the tests were turned over and the assembled genin quickly began to read through the questions. In a few seconds, the sound of pencils meeting paper could be heard… but from only a handful of individuals.

'_Wha… what is this?_' Sakura wondered as she looked over the test. '_These questions are all extremely complicated… it would take either an extreme amount of book smarts, experience, or both to even begin to figure them out. I'm fine, but I doubt anyone else here could answer any of them!_' Sakura's eyes quickly darted around the room, discreetly looking at their competition, many of whom were looking at their papers in confusion and in some cases, mild panic.

Sure enough, several seats away, Sasuke had finished scanning the sheet before him. He took a moment to consider everything he'd just read before closing his eyes and sitting back. '_Well… that's interesting…_' He said, a small but slightly bitter smile crossed his features. '_I can't begin to answer a single one of these problems…_'

Naruto had come to the same realization. He'd skimmed over all the questions at this point, and he couldn't hope to answer even a single one. There was no way this was actually a chunin level test. He doubted anyone aside in his graduating class aside from Sakura could pass it.

But then, he'd noticed something fishy about the rules that Ibiki had come up with. Under normal circumstances, wouldn't you be immediately disqualified if you got caught cheating even once? Unless… '_Unless they _want _us to cheat!_' Naruto realized.

Of course, it was so obvious! This wasn't a test of their book smarts; it was a test of their information gathering capabilities! They were supposed to cheat without getting caught five times.

Around the room, others began to come to the same realization. Identifying a test taker who knew all the answers, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and began mimicking his pencil strokes. Neji and Hinata used their Byakugan to see through other test taker's bodies to their papers. Gaara formed an eye out of sand and used it to spy on others.

Ah, but here the blond had a problem. While Zabuza's training had improved his stealth abilities and that combined with the Rinnegan's shared vision made him fairly effective at gathering information… nothing he had would help him while he was under the hawk like eyes of the chunin proctors. And as far as he knew, his dojutsu had no ability that would really help him here.

Of course, he wasn't alone in this. After all, not every team could be made entirely of individuals whose skills were geared towards information gathering, like team eight. There were several others who had no way of spying on the other test takers, including Sakura and highly skilled individuals like Rock Lee and Temari. But then, Sakura was probably the only genin present who didn't need to cheat, and some of those individuals had the benefit of being on more experienced teams who had ways of either relaying information to them or helping each other under the chunin's radar.

Team seven did not have this advantage.

He racked his brain in slight panic for a while wondering exactly what he was going to do. Then his head jerked as inspiration struck him and a grin spread across his face.

The blond put his pencil to the paper and began writing, making sure no one could see what he wrote. Minutes later, he finished, looking over his work and nodding to himself before flipping the sheet over, reclining in his chair and placed his hands behind his head, tilted his head down and relaxed, much to the puzzlement of those around him and the proctors.

'_What's he doing?_' Sasuke asked himself, frowning in the blonds' direction. '_He couldn't have gotten the answers that easily? What the hell did he do?_'

Sakura looked in the blonds' direction, wondering the same thing as Sasuke before suddenly, her eyes widened and her head fell forward. When she looked up, a mischievous grin had spread across her face as she picked up her finished test.

'_Just like I thought. About time forehead's oversized brain was useful for something._' Ino thought, having usurped control of Sakura's body with her Mind Transfer Jutsu. She read over her rival's test, memorizing every inch before she would return to her body and then use her jutsu to relay the information to Choji and Shikamaru.

Ibiki looked out at the various genin, his brow furrowing as he looked to the blond. He wondered what the kid's game was. Had he gotten the answers without him knowing somehow? He seemed too relaxed considering the situation. Well, he'd find out soon enough, there were only a few minutes left on the clock.

Kankuro interrupted the test, claiming he needed to use the bathroom. He left with a 'chunin escort.'

'_Heh._'

Ibiki had to resist the urge to smirk. As if he couldn't see through that disguise.

A few minutes later, and the 45 minutes had elapsed. It was time for the tenth question.

'_Finally, time for the main event._'

"All right! Listen up, here is the tenth and final question! But before I give you the question, there are some more rules concerning the tenth question you need to know before we can begin."

Just as he was about to reveal the question, the door opened and Kankuro returned. "Ah, aren't you lucky," Ibiki said with a smirk. "You made it just in time. I hope you found your trip to the bathroom… enlightening."

While Kankuro kept up a mask of calmness, inwardly he was shocked. '_He's seen through Karasu's disguise! He's on to us!_' Deciding to go ahead with the plan, he returned to his seat, subtly passing a cheat sheet to Temari along the way.

"These rules only apply to question ten, but they're vitally important, so listen closely… and try not to let them frighten you."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the jonin lounge, Kakashi, Zabuza, Kurenai and Asuma were all relaxing as their students took the exam. Zabuza sat away from the others while Kurenai and Asuma sat near each other, across from Kakashi. Asuma took a long drag off of his cigarette before looking to the copy ninja.<p>

"Eesh, you really screwed that one up, Kakashi." Asuma said with a slightly amused expression after Kakashi and Zabuza explained exactly what happened during the Wave mission. "Putting a team of green genin through a mess like that without even calling for back up? I bet the old man tore you a new one."

Kakashi chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well… we all make mistakes, right? And everything turned out fine in the end."

"I notice you didn't answer my question." Asuma pointed out with a grin.

Kurenai turned to the sword wielding jonin, raising an eyebrow as she stared at him. "Isn't a little unfair that your genin have been getting extra training from a jonin of his caliber?"

Zabuza just gave her a bored look. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've been told aren't most of your students children of famous clans if not said clan's heirs?"

That statement immediately ended the argument. That was true and they could always look for extra help from their families. In fact, Asuma had mostly left it to his students' clans to train them, and subsequently got chewed out by his father himself for passing the buck.

Even Hinata could have sought additional help from her clan. Though she was viewed poorly by her father and the clan's elders, many among her family found her kindhearted nature endearing and would be more than willing to help her.

Naruto and Sasuke, being orphans, and Sakura, being raised by a civilian mother, did not have this opportunity.

"Besides, I was only supposed to help whip them into shape for the exam." The masked ninja added with a shrug. Of course, he'd help out in their training if they asked in the future, but this was all he was obligated to do.

He also neglected to mention Jiraiya's contribution.

"Hm," Kurenai responded.

"Things are going to be boring for the next month. We can't even carry out missions while our students take on the exam," Kakashi complained, the usual lazy expression he tended to wear holding a hint of boredom.

"Now you know how I feel. I can't wait for this damn probationary period to be over," Zabuza said to the copy ninja, grumbling at the end. "But I have to agree, this is dull. At least before I had something to do."

Haku was currently training with his ice style, which Zabuza couldn't offer any help with, leaving the former missing nin with nothing to do aside from try to learn to use the wind element.

Asuma chuckled. "Eh, don't worry. Those kids might be back sooner than you think."

"Hm? Do you know something we don't, Asuma?" Kakashi asked.

Asuma shrugged. "Just that word is the examiner for the first stage happens to be Ibiki."

Zabuza sat up and frowned. "Ibiki? Ibiki Morino?"

"The very same." Asuma replied.

Kakashi's usual, aloof expression gained a hint of concern. "They put them with that sadist from the start?"

Kurenai's brow furrowed, not liking the sound of that and slightly worried about her team.

"Sadist?"

Zabuza raised a brow.

"You've never heard of him?"

"She's a new jonin, and unlike you, she never had to worry about being sent to the guy. Not surprising she never heard of him," Asuma pointed out with a grin.

Kurenai rolled her eyes at the slight dig on her status as a newbie.

"So who is he?"

"An expert…" Asuma began, taking another puff of his cancer stick before turning and looking at the sole kunoichi in the room. "… of torture and interrogation. The special jonin: Ibiki Morino of Konoha's T & I department. Don't worry, there won't be anything physical. That's not where his skills lie. His area of expertise … is mental torture."

* * *

><p>"First of all," Ibiki began, his stern gaze washing over the room. "It is up to you if you wish to take the tenth question or not."<p>

"Whoa, wait a second, 'choose'?" Temari exclaimed, immediately aware something was wrong with this. "What kind of rule is that? What happens if we decide not to take it?"

Ibiki close his eyes and paused for a moment before giving the test takers a grim look.

"If you choose not to take the tenth question, then your score will automatically be reduced to zero. In other words, you'll fail, along with your teammates."

"What the hell do you mean?!" One faceless genin cried out in shock.

"In that case, of course we'll take it!" Another yelled at the scarred man.

"And now for the other rule…" Ibiki began. "If you decide to take the tenth question and you get it wrong, then not only will you fail, you will lose the right to ever take the chunin exams again!"

The room immediately burst into cries of shock, disbelief and fear. In the midst of it all, Kiba shot out of his seat so quickly that the chair audibly scraped against the floor, jabbing his finger in the scarred special jonin in outrage as his voice rose over all others.

"That's bull man! That's ridiculous! There's plenty of people here who've taken this exam before!"

Ibiki responded with a chuckle, a sinister sound that sent a chill through the spines of many chunin hopefuls.

"You guys crapped out. Those guys didn't have me as a proctor. This year, you play by my rules," He said, flashing the test takers a wicked smile. "But I'm completely without mercy. I've given you a way out. If you don't think you'll get it right, you're free to leave. There's the door! Take it!"

There was a moment of silence as all the genin contemplated what they were facing. Were they really willing to risk ending any hope of advancement they had like this? If they forfeit this opportunity, they could always try again in half a year after all.

It only took a few seconds for the first genin to fold, raising his hand shouting that he couldn't do it. He and his team were sent out, his teammates grumbling at him for costing them their chance as he apologized.

Through all this, Naruto thought about his own future and the nature of the question with his head tilted down, an unreadable expression on his features. Had he been wrong about the last question? Was his chance of ever advancing beyond genin really at risk? Could their proctor really have that much influence?

And what would the old man say if he failed? Their agreement said that the Third would tell him the truth about his family if he became a chunin. What would happen if the scar faced proctor really had this kind of influence? He doubted Hiruzen would keep the truth from him forever, but still…

After a few moments, however, all conflict fled from his mind as he realized something and the words Ibiki spoke at the beginning echoed through his mind.

_Show us all that you are proud ninja._

The blond raised his head and looked up at the scarred proctor, a confident grin etched onto his features. There was no hint of fear or uncertainty in his expression, and it didn't waver even as another nearby test taker threw in the towel.

Ibiki noticed the confident look and eyed him appraisingly as he tried to read the young Uzumaki.

'_Interesting… he seems sure of himself even knowing the risks._'

The many times he'd been a proctor for the exam, he'd seen a myriad of reactions from the many prospective students when put in similar situations, doubt and hesitation being chief among them. The closest anyone had come to this was what he saw from the male Hyuuga in the group and the red headed sand genin, cold determination to face whatever was ahead of them. However, he'd never seen such a confident expression on any of them before.

He wasn't even sure the blond had gotten any of the answers. His curiosity peaked, he leveled a fierce glare at the young Jinchuriki.

"And just what are you smiling about?" He barked at the boy, causing all eyes to focus on him. "You seem pretty calm for someone in your position, or maybe you're just too stupid to understand what's at stake." When Naruto showed no signs of intimidation, Ibiki pressed. "Well, got something to say? Out with it!"

Naruto chuckled and closed his eyes. "It's nothing really," He said before raising his head, and Ibiki could tell, despite the sunglasses, the blond was meeting his glare with unwavering determination. "I just realized I've got no reason to be scared of some weak threat like that."

Many of the remaining genin were stunned while Ibiki's eyes narrowed. "Care to elaborate?"

"Why should something like this scare me? I've never let anything stand between me and my dreams, and I'm not starting now! So what if you say I'll never become a chunin? I'll still find someway to move forward!" He said before his grin widened slightly and he raised a brow. "Besides, you already said it yourself."

Before Ibiki could question what he meant, Naruto pointed at him and continued. "You told us all to be proud ninja. As ninja, we risk out lives with every mission we take. How could we live like that when we're afraid of something so small like a threat to our careers? Anyone cowardly enough to back out of a mission just because of a little risk-" He slammed is hand on the desk before him. "- doesn't deserve to call themselves a ninja! So you can take that threat and shove it up your god damn ass! Ya got that, scarface!?"

There was silence following that declaration as Naruto sat back in his chair, still grinning at Ibiki. Beside him, Hinata smiled shyly, a slight blush painting her features. Seats away, Sasuke smirked while Sakura smiled as well, any hints of uncertainty the pink haired girl felt washed away by the blonds' words.

The scarred jonin stared at the blond briefly before letting his eyes wander the room. Ibiki was a master at reading people, of analyzing the small cues and tells that show what a person is feeling, when they're scared, when they're desperate, when they're about to crack. Nothing escaped his notice.

However, even a novice at the subtle art could see that the atmosphere of the room had shifted.

'_Heh. No one's going to back out after that… Interesting kid, that little speech of his inspired the other hopefuls and blew away their fears. And whether he knows it or not, he realized the question's true nature. This one might have a bright future ahead of him._'

Ibiki turned to look at the clock with an unreadable expression, seeing there were only a few minutes left.

'_Well, there's no reason to draw this out now…_' A glance at the chunin sentinels told him they all agreed.

"Strong words," Ibiki responded stonily. "Well, if that's how you feel, then let's get this show on the road."

All the genin donned serious expressions and stiffened in their seats, preparing themselves for whatever the scarred proctor had in store for them.

However, none of the prospective chunin could have anticipated Ibiki's next words.

"To all those who remain…"

A grin broke out over Ibiki's face, one that left all the test takers in confusion. There was no malice in this grin. It was relaxed… almost… kind.

"I congratulate you on passing the first test!"

Stunned silence followed that statement as many of the young shinobi gaped at the proctor. Finally, Sakura spoke up. "Wait, what do you mean? What about the tenth question?"

"There was never a tenth question," Ibiki replied, his grin widening to show his teeth, further confusing the genin with his sudden shift in demeanor. "Or more accurately, the tenth question was simply the choice to take it, or not."

Temari, angered over all the wasted effort, shouted. "Then what was the point of the first nine questions?! Are you saying all this was a waste of time?!"

"Of course not, the first ten questions served their own purpose. And that was to test your information gathering abilities," Ibiki said, pausing for a moment to let this sink in before elaborating. "First, as I explained at the beginning, whether you pass or failed depended on your whole team doing well. That would put pressure on each member to not screw things up for everyone. But the questions were not ones most, if any, genin could hope to answer. I'm sure most of you realized 'in order to pass, I have no choice but to cheat'. Basically, you were supposed to cheat without getting caught. For that purpose, we had a few chunin hidden among you, and anyone who cheated obviously, failed."

With that, the special jonin reached up and unwrapped his bandana like forehead protector. When he was finished and unveiled what was hidden underneath the clock, many of those present were horrified by what they saw, some to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat, a sense of unease blossoming in their hearts at the thought that this might one day happen to them.

Naruto could only gape. He'd called the man 'scarface' earlier, but he never could have expected _this…_

Underneath Ibiki's bandana, the man's head was covered in horrible scars from either slashes or deep gashed where flesh had been torn off by blunt instruments, as well as burns and deep screw holes. There was hardly an inch of the man's head that was left unmarred.

"Because there are times when information is more important than the life of any one shinobi. And on missions and battlefields, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

With that, he began to rewrap his bandana before continuing.

"This is what could happen should you chance upon misinformation. Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and village. So we had you gather information through cheating. This separated those who didn't have the right abilities."

"But… what about the tenth question?" An Ame genin asked.

At this, Ibiki smirked and chuckled.

"A bit slow on the uptake, aren't you?"

The genin fumed but before he could respond, Ibiki pointed at Naruto, who was a bit surprised at being singled out, though he only barely showed it.

"That blond brat already told you the tenth question's purpose. It was a leap of faith, a decision to take it, or not. A difficult choice, as one would cause your entire team to fail, and the other put your career on the line." After pausing for a moment, he elaborated. "You can't turn down a mission just because of the dangers you could potentially face. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardships… that is what it takes to be a chunin leader. Anyone who would take the coward's way out…" He smirked as he echoed the blonds' words. "Doesn't deserve to call themselves ninja, let alone chunin! All of you have passed my test. The first stage of the chunin exams are now finished. I wish you luck."

Before anyone could celebrate, Ibiki turned his gaze to the window, his expression dropping as he sensed something very familiar rapidly approaching. The very next instant, the window shattered as what appeared to be a black ball of cloth burst into the room, causing a nearby chunin to jump and a few genin unlucky enough to be nearby to shield their faces as shards rained down on them.

"That's…!" spoke Naruto, sitting up in his seat, having immediately recognized this entrance.

The ball unfurled in front of a slightly annoyed Ibiki, sticking to the floor and ceiling with kunai. Once fully opened, it revealed itself to be a banner reading 'The sexy and single proctor of the second exam, Anko Mitarashi!'. The woman herself stood before the banner with her hands in her coat pockets. More than a few males in her audience had trouble keeping their attention off her assets, several had blushes and in a few cases nosebleeds.

"Alright, you brats! This is no time to celebrate!" Anko shouted to the test takers, waving her arm with her usual dramatic flair. "I'm Anko Mitarashi, the proctor for the second stage of the chunin exams! Now let's go! Follow me!" She pumped her fist in the air.

Silence followed this declaration. Ibiki, clearly annoyed, stepped out from behind the banner.

"Bad timing, Anko. You're early, again."

This caused Anko to blush in embarrassment while Naruto snickered at the expressions of both special jonin.

Anko rubbed the back of her head and chuckled sheepishly before actually looking at the chunin hopefuls. Taking a quick tally, she frowned.

"78!?" She wheeled on her fellow special jonin. "What the hell, Ibiki!? You let 26 teams pass?" She then grinned. "Looks like someone's getting soft."

"Actually, you've got that brat to thank for all the extras," Ibiki responded, pointing to Naruto.

"Huh?" Anko raised a brow before following Ibiki's gaze and seeing the blond.

"Hey, Anko. I was wondering when you'd show up," Naruto called out with a grin, which Anko returned.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite brat. Figured you'd get through Ibiki's game, but what's this I hear about you being responsible for all the extra baggage?" She asked, putting a hand on her hip.

The blond shrugged. "Eh, it's not like I did much. I just said a few words and all the wannabes who were ready to back out sat back down."

The purple haired kunoichi chuckled at that, while Naruto's teammates looked at the young Uzumaki in slight confusion.

'_How does he know her? I mean, she acts kind of like him, but when did they meet?_' Sakura wondered.

"Oh, stop being so modest. It would take a lot more than that to break this guy's hold over these little brats." Anko jabbed her thumb in Ibiki's direction. "You've gotta have some serious balls to pull that off." Naruto chuckled at that before Anko gave a predatory grin. "But that won't be enough to get through what I've got in store for you. By the time I'm through with you, I'll cut your numbers in half at the very least." She sent out a small amount of killing intent, causing many of the test takers to shiver. "Now, follow me. I'll explain once we get there."

With her piece said she jumped out the window, not giving the genin even a moment to get up. Naruto quickly got up to follow her, the prospective chunin quickly doing the same once they recovered from the shock. Soon, the teams had gotten back together as they followed after the snake summoner.

"Naruto…" Sakura said, stepping up to walk alongside the Rinnegan bearer. "How do you know her?" The rest of the Rookie 9, who happened to be nearby, listened closely, most wanting to find out about their new proctor, and in Kiba's case wondering how Naruto knew such a hot kunoichi.

"Oh, we ran into each other around the village…" Literally. "… and we kind of hit it off. She's given me some great advice, and she's not so bad once you get to know her," Naruto said, placing his hands behind his head.

"Let me give you some advice. There are a few rules to follow when dealing with her," The Rinnegan bearer began before beginning to tick them off on his fingers. "1) If she gives you an order, follow it. 2) Don't sass her unless she likes you. Oh, and 3) whatever you do, do _not _mess with her dango." Naruto shuddered at the end.

Sakura frowned at his reaction, wondering what the special jonin could do to make someone like Naruto afraid.

"What happens if you break those rules?"

"At best, she'll cut you. At worst, she'll break your bones or feed you to her snakes," Naruto answered nonchalantly.

The other eight genin looked surprised and Ino froze mid-step before chuckling nervously.

"Heh heh… real funny, Naruto," She said to her fellow blond.

Naruto turned to them with a deadpan expression. "I wasn't kidding."

After a moment, Shikamaru spoke up. "Man, this gets more troublesome by the minute…"

* * *

><p>Ibiki, meanwhile, was busy collecting the tests now that the first stage was over. As he walked up and down the rows, he came across Naruto's test. He glanced at it as he picked it up and froze. Even that quick glimpse had told him something was off. He held up the sheet and actually read what was written on it.<p>

In place of the first answer was an explanation of the purpose of the first nine questions. On the second answer space, an insult for making it so easy to figure out. The remaining seven spaces contained various insults and obscenities.

Once he'd finished, he closed his eyes and chuckled. '_Definitely an interesting one, that kid._'

* * *

><p>Anko and her charges had arrived at their destination, finding themselves before a massive, gated off forest full of trees larger than many of the hopefuls had ever seen. The place seemed to radiate an ominous feeling that made some of the first timers almost wish they were back at the written test.<p>

"Wow, how inviting." Naruto commented as he looked on, not the least bit intimidated. '_Zabuza would probably love this place…_'

"Welcome to the 44th training ground, better known as 'the forest of death'!" Anko said cheerfully before giving a happy sigh. "My own little home away from home." Her expression then twisted into a malicious smirk. "Of course, I doubt you brats will think of it as fondly as I do. To you, I think it'd be more fitting to call this place 'hell'."

"Ha!" Kiba barked, pointing at the special jonin. "You think that scares us?" He said, trying to cover up the creeping trepidation he felt with bravado.

"Hm hm… you're a spirited one, aren't you?" Anko said with a sweet smile. Then, faster than most of the genin could follow, Anko threw a kunai at the Inuzuka, slicing open his cheek, before appearing behind him, bending over so her face was parallel to his with her hand firmly gripping the other side of his head and preventing him from making any move. The dog using boy could only shudder as Anko licked up the blood that was spilling freely from the cut she'd made just a moment ago.

Seeing this, all the rookies remembered Naruto's warning and any lingering doubts that he'd been exaggerating vanished in a heartbeat.

"You know, it's loudmouthed guys like you that end up spilling that blood I love so much all over my training ground," Anko said with a grin as she continued to lap up the terrified boy's blood.

Sakura took a step towards Naruto and said quietly, hoping not to draw the snake summoner's attention. "Naruto, your friend scares me."

Naruto just chuckled, having grown used to Anko's antics. "Yeah, she'll do that. Just be glad no one broke that third rule I told you about… I did when we first met and she chased me halfway across the village with her snakes." This caused Sakura to look at him with wide eyes.

Anko grinned as she savored the metallic taste of Kiba's blood and looked at the shivering boy, whose expression was a combination of terror and arousal. His dog had long since buried himself in his jacket, hiding away from the snake summoning kunoichi. Ah… it was times like these that made her wish the old man would let her take a genin team… and exactly why he never did.

Sensing a presence behind her, she quickly drew a kunai and turned a grass kunoichi wearing a straw hat, holding the kunai she'd thrown mere moments ago in an overly-long prehensile tongue.

"You're kunai," She said politely, her voice unsettling but, strangely, completely understandable despite the tongue hanging out of her mouth.

"Why thank you," Anko replied, her grin returning as she took it. Kiba stared at the two, his feelings for his current situation settling on terror with the new arrival. "But you know, you shouldn't sneak up behind me. Unless, of course, you want to die."

"My apologies," The strange kunoichi replied as she turned away, her tongue retracting back into her mouth as she turned away while Anko placed both kunai back in her pouch. "I just get so excited at the sight of blood. And you cut my precious hair. I couldn't let that go…" She said as she returned to her team, suppressing a smirk at the disturbed expressions focused on her.

"Wow… she's creepier than Anko could ever hope to be," Naruto commented, hoping the woman in question didn't hear him.

Which she did.

"Aw, if that's the case, I'm going to have to try harder," She said with an amused grin before reaching into her coat and pulling out a stack of papers. "Now, before we get started, you're all going to have to sign these." When she saw the curious looks on some of the genin's faces, she gave them all a sickly sweet smile, one that even the most innocent child wouldn't fall for. "They're wavers saying that you know and accept the risks involved if you enter this forest. There will be deaths in this stage and if you don't sign them, I'll be accountable for your lives. You don't expect me to take responsibility for every little genin who goes missing here, do you?"

The reactions to those words were various. Some gained hardened looks in their eyes, some seemed completely unconcerned, while others shivered, anxiety clear on their faces while still others smirked.

"Now, pass these out amongst yourselves while I explain the rules," Anko said, handing the stack to a nearby genin who proceeded to pass it around. "Basically, this is a no-holds-barred survival test. Around the 44th training ground are 44 locked gates." She reached into her coat once again and pulled out a map, holding it up for all to see. "There's a tower at the center of the forest, which extends around it in a 10 km radius, and a river that cuts through it." She put the map away and reached into her pockets, pulling out two differently colored scrolls. "Your objective is to retrieve both of these scrolls."

"Scrolls?" One of the genin asked curiously.

"That's right. You'll be fighting over these scrolls. There are an even 26 teams here, half will get a heaven scroll, and the rest will receive an earth scroll. To pass this test, you must reach the tower with both scrolls." With that, everyone realized what she meant when she said she'd but their numbers at least in half, no more than that could pass.

"However, there's a time limit. You only have 120 hours, five full days, to acquire both scrolls and reach the tower."

"F- five days?!" Ino exclaimed. She did NOT want to spend a day in that creepy forest, let alone five.

"What about food?!" Choji yelled in equal shock.

Anko gave the young Akimichi a cheerful smile.

"Oh don't worry about that. There's plenty of food in there, you just have to catch it yourself. Oh, and be on the look out for the man eating beasts, poisonous insects and carnivorous plants, or they just might make a meal out of you instead."

Choji hung his head down, looking like he was ready to break down at such a prospect and causing Ino to sweat drop. Really, what did he expect, an all you can eat buffet in the middle of the forest?

Ignoring the moping genin, Anko returned to her explanation. "There are two ways you can fail. For those who aren't the sharpest kunai in the pouch, the first is if you don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. The second is if one of your teammates dies during the exam."

"Can we quit?" Shikamaru asked, causing Ino to bonk him upside the head.

Anko chuckled.

"If you're scared feel free to back out, just do so before you enter the forest. Once you're in, you're not leaving until the five days are up. Unless of course, you want to die, but I don't recommend that."

Shikamaru seemed to consider taking that offer and just walking away, until a growl from Ino caused him to back down, grumbling about how troublesome it was.

"By the way, I shouldn't have to tell you this, but don't open the scrolls. Anyone who does will be in for a nasty surprise," She said before closing her eyes. "Well, that's it. Take your three forms to that booth behind me and exchange them for a scroll. Oh, and I have one final piece of advice for you guys."

The genin all listened closely as Anko's expression became serious.

"Just don't die! Once you've got your scroll, an instructor will show you to a gate! The exam starts in 30 minutes!"

* * *

><p>In a few minutes, the teams had scattered among the gates. Naruto and his team stood before the 12th gate. Sasuke looked down at the light colored scroll in his hand marked 'heaven'. Naruto wore a wide grin as he looked out into the forest, and the Uchiha couldn't help but smirk. Both wanted to know that ahead lied the strong opponents they'd been waiting to face.<p>

Sakura gulped slightly, aware that this would be the first time since she started training seriously where her life would be in danger, before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked forward. Her expression hardened into one of determination. She would not fail her team here.

"Looks like we're in for one hell of a party, wouldn't you say, guys?" Naruto asked, turning back to his teammates.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in response, though his smirk widened showing he agreed. Sakura simply nodded.

Finally, Anko's voice sounded over the loudspeakers. "The second test of the chunin exams… starts now!

At that moment, every team shot through the gates, vanishing into the massive trees as the all out battle began. Team seven leapt through the trees in a triangle formation with Naruto in front, Sasuke at the center and Sakura pulling up the rear.

"So, what's the plan?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke's onyx eyes turned to Naruto. "I was thinking… the usual."

Naruto grinned.

"What do you know? I was thinking the same thing," He said before scanning the area ahead, looking for a hiding spot. Soon enough, his eyes landed on the base of a large tree with its base and roots above ground, creating a dark and obscure hollow space. Deciding it would make adequate cover, he pointed to it and called out, "That looks like a good spot to hide out."

His teammates nodded before they changed direction, bounding from tree to tree down to the forest floor right before the designated tree, then stepping into the dark base of the tree.

Examining their surrounding with a critical eye, Sasuke nodded, confident that this place would serve its purpose before turning to the blond.

"Good call. Alright, do your thing."

Naruto made a familiar cross shaped hand sign.

"Like I need you to tell me."

'The usual', as they called it, was a method of gathering information and keeping lookout they made during one of the many survival exercises their team undertook under Zabuza's advisement, with their three teachers tracking them. Naruto would use his shadow clones, not only in an effort to throw them off track, for example, scattering spare articles of clothing they brought along when they realized Kakashi was tracking them through scent, but also as scouts and an advanced warning system.

The shadow clone's ability to relay knowledge was useful in this endeavor, but even more so was the Rinnegan's shared vision. The ability had an extremely large range, and better yet, Naruto found he could sense his clones' location, and vice versa when they both had the Rinnegan active. The blond was certain this would prove invaluable here.

An oddity, one Naruto wasn't certain was shared by all dojutsu or unique to the Rinnegan, was that his clones couldn't activate their dojutsu on their own. Either they had it because Naruto had it active when he made them, or they wouldn't be able to activate it at all. That was no big deal though, as once his clones found something he'd create a few more with his dojutsu active and have them tracked down.

In an instant, twenty Naruto clones poofed into existence before bolting away from their location and vanishing into the immense forest.

"Hn. Just a mater of time now," Sasuke said, looking after the clones before walking over to a particularly large root and sitting down, making himself comfortable and propping his arm up on his leg.

Naruto sighed before doing the same, sitting down at the base of another root and placing his hands behind his head, looking up at the roof of the canopy, staring out of their hiding spot at the treetops, watching the rays of light filtering through the dense foliage.

Sakura found her own spot before looking to her teammates.

"Um, shouldn't we have a back up plan? I mean, this is a good idea, but we should have something to fall back on if things don't work out."

Naruto's expression turned thoughtful for a moment before he spoke up. "Well, if we don't find anything by tomorrow or maybe the day after, we can always move to an area around the tower. All the teams will have to come through that area eventually. We could just camp out there, set traps and wait for them to come to us, and anyone we run into is bound to have both scrolls. Unless they have the same idea anyway."

Sasuke thought it over for a moment before conceding he couldn't come up with anything better.

"Good plan. Looks like you're finally starting to pull you weight."

Naruto glared at the Uchiha heir.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Sasuke shrugged before looking away and closing his eyes, a small smirk gracing his features.

"Just that last time we were actually in a serious situation, you weren't really good for much other than drawing the enemy's attention."

Naruto growled indignantly and clenched his fist.

"What am I, a human shield!?"

"Well, you did draw Haku's needles away from me for quite a while."

Sakura had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she brought her finger to her chin and looked up with a pensive expression.

"You know, your clones _are_ really good at soaking up damage…"

Naruto gave both of them a deadpan look.

"I'm really feeling the love here guys."

A moment after those words left Naruto's mouth, screams echoed through the forest, causing the three to frown as they turned their heads in the sounds direction.

"Looks like things are already starting to heat up," The young Uzumaki observed.

Sasuke grunted in response while Sakura remained silent.

A silence fell over the trio as they focused their senses on their surroundings, making sure that they weren't being watched. After a few minutes, Naruto suddenly shot forward, gasping in shock before twisting his body to look in a seemingly random direction, drawing both his teammate's attention.

"Naruto?!" Sakura said, concerned.

Sasuke's eyes widened briefly before they narrowed. He leaned forward, wanting to know what he'd just seen.

"One of your clones?" He asked rhetorically. "What did you see?"

Naruto said nothing for a moment as he continued to stare in the direction his clone had been in, his face a mask of shock and his breathing slightly labored as not just the memories, but the emotions of his clone hit him all at once. Finally, he lifted his head, staring at each of his teammates before saying, "… Guys. If we run into Gaara and his siblings, we need to run. If there's any chance we can avoid a fight with them, we take it, understand?"

Sakura seemed slightly taken aback by that. She knew that, like Sasuke, Naruto wanted to test himself and had never seen him shy away from facing a powerful opponent. What would make him not want to fight Gaara?

Sasuke was thinking along those same lines, but he wasn't going to keep quiet about it.

"What did you see?" He asked again, a bit more forcefully.

The Rinnegan bearer gave him a serious look.

"I'll tell you if we have to fight him, but trust me, you're better off not knowing."

The Sharingan user's expression didn't change.

"And what happens if something goes wrong and we wind up fighting them without whatever you have on him? Now tell us, what did you see?"

Naruto took a breath and began to recount his clone's memories.

(Flashback)

_Minutes ago, a Naruto clone had gone to investigate the scream that the original had heard. He soon reached the source of the sound, finding a trio of leaf genin who looked a few years older than him. All three of them wore similar clothing: a black suit with the Konoha forehead protector stitched into the forehead._

_The three were trapped in a net suspended a few dozen feet off the ground. One was struggling weakly, his expression a mask of anger and frustration as his teammates seemed to have given up and were resting to recover their strength. All the older genin were pale, seeming to have suffered from severe blood loss._

_Looking down, the shadow clone saw the culprits of their condition: large leeches, many of which had been sliced open or pierced with kunai lying dead on the ground between many wires. From the looks of it, someone had used the leeches in combination with a trap for an easy take down. A lucky break for whoever had used the leeches, not so much for the unfortunate trio, who would be stuck there until they regained their strength. Listening in, he heard one complain about being taken out and losing their scroll so early in the exam._

_The clone left the three other genin, given that they were rivals in the exam and even if they weren't they had taken out all the leeches, and looked for signs of the lucky team. Figuring they'd probably head straight for the tower, he took off in that direction and soon happened upon a torn branch. Picking up the trail, he pursued the team he knew would have both scrolls. There was the chance that they'd stop to rest, or maybe try their luck and attempt to take out more competition or run into another team. In any case, it was as good an opportunity as any._

_Eventually, he found three chakra signatures on the ground, hiding in the bushes. From his position, he could see it was none other than team eight. However, their attention was focused on the clearing ahead of them._

_Naruto was a little torn here. Since the last time he'd butt heads with the dog using genin, something of a rivalry had sprung up between the two and he really wanted to show him who was boss, on the other, part of him didn't want to take a scroll from another of the rookie teams, and Hinata and Shino were alright in his book. Whatever he decided about their scrolls, he wanted to see what it was they were observing._

_Keeping to the upper branches of the trees and concealing his presence as best he could in the sparse foliage of the massive tree and peered into the clearing._

_It was the Sand Siblings, with Gaara at the front, standing across from a team he didn't recognize from Ame, each of which had two large umbrellas on their backs along with an oxygen tank and wore similar suits. Their apparent leader was larger than his teammates and wore a dark green cloak. The clone strained his ears to listen in, but with the distance between him and the two opposing teams, he could only hear them if they raised their voices._

_The leading Ame genin threw one of his umbrellas into the air and made the tiger hand sign. The umbrella hovered in the air and began to spin rapidly before unleashing a hail of senbon. Using his chakra, the Ame genin manipulated the needles, causing them to change trajectory and fly towards Gaara, closing in on the youngest of the sand trio and circling around him in all directions._

"_Up, down, left, right, there's no blind spot in this jutsu, and it's deadly accurate!" the doppelganger heard the Ame genin boast loudly before directing the senbon to rain down on Gaara from every direction with such force that the impact kicked up a cloud of dust, obscuring what the attacker was certain would be a needle ridden corpse._

_However, much to the surprise of the Ame genin and everyone present aside from the sand siblings, when the dust cleared it revealed a completely unharmed Gaara, protected by a shell of sand that had formed around his body._

'A wall of sand?_ So that's why he's never been injured.' Naruto observed as he eyed Gaara's jutsu critically. '_He must channel his chakra through the sand, allowing him to harden and control it like an extension of himself. That's an almost unbeatable defense…_'_

_Down in the clearing, the Ame genin had apparently realized his efforts were futile and charged forward, intent on turning this into taijutsu battle._

_This would prove to be his undoing. With a wave of his hand, Gaara sent a wave of sand at the older boy. Tendrils and hands of sand gripped the boy's legs, preventing him from fleeing, before quickly entangling his torso and arms as well. In only a few seconds, the Ame genin was completely encased in sand, only his face, a mask of shock and terror, was visible._

'… and a powerful offence._' _

_The blond could tell that something awful was about to happen, but still, he watched as Gaara manipulated the sand, lifting the trapped genin into the air as he stepped forward, grabbed and opened one of the umbrellas._

_Naruto's feeling was proven true a moment later. Mercilessly, Gaara tightened the hand into a fist, causing the sand to crush the young man he was facing with such pressure that his blood exploded out from the coffin, raining bitter crimson tears down on the clearing and covering his terrified teammates in the red liquid while the Naruto clone and team eight stared, eyes wide with horror._

_The remaining Ame genin set their scroll down on the ground, obviously hoping to be spared if they just relinquished the object, not like it would do them any good now. _

_Sadly, their hopes were dashed when Gaara extended both his hands, sending more sand to enclose the surviving Ame genin. In moments, the two shared the fate of their leader. This time, Gaara covered their faces too. Screams of terror echoed throughout the area before two more showers of blood erupted across the clearing._

_Naruto had known Gaara was dangerous, but this was beyond what he'd expected. He'd seen people killed back on the bridge in Wave, though he hadn't taken any of those lives himself, but this was just brutal._

_Then, Gaara turned his gaze towards him before looking elsewhere and raising his hand once more, this time his focus was team eight! The clone's gaze hardened at that. There was no way he was going to let that happen to them! If it came to that, he'd throw himself at them as a distraction. After all, he was just a clone, worse came the worst, he would simply be dispelled, although the real Naruto would do the same in this position._

_Then Kankuro, apparently disagreeing with Gaara's actions, began to argue with him, going so far as to step up to him and grab him by the collar of his shirt, though the redhead brushed his hand aside shortly thereafter._

_Temari seemed to agree with Kankuro, trying in a placating manner to convince Gaara to stand down, only for both siblings to freeze when their younger brother pointed his palm at Kankuro, the threat very clear to both. The sand user then pointed his hand at team eight again._

_Naruto tensed and focused his chakra, preparing to save his fellow leaf genin if need be, but, much to his relief, Gaara only used the sand to reform the cork of his gourd. He called the sand back, replaced the cork and walked away._

_All those present breathed sighs of relief as the sand user backed down. The doppelganger took a few moments to get his breathing under control, placing a hand on his forehead as calmed himself. While he was a clone, he still had survival instincts and team eight had been in real danger. After that, he knew the original wouldn't wish to pursue Team eight. He dispersed himself to relay what he'd seen to the original._

(End flashback)

Both Sakura and Sasuke stared at Naruto with wide eyes as he finished his tale. What Naruto hadn't wanted to tell them was what his clone had seen moment ago, Sakura had agreed with Sasuke. After all, this could be something they'd need to know later.

Now, Sakura wished that Sasuke had just left it at that.

There were a few moments of silence as the three processed what they'd just learned before Sasuke spoke up. "Alright. As much as I hate to say it, if we do run into those three in the future, it's probably best if we rely on Naruto to take that guy on."

Sakura seemed taken aback by that.

"Sasuke, how can you-?"

"Sakura," Naruto cut in, causing her to turn to him. "He's right. I'm best suited for it."

Sakura seemed to want to say something before Sasuke said, "I wasn't saying we should leave him high and dry if we have to fight Gaara. I meant that his water jutsu has the best chance of countering that sand."

Sakura calmed at that. Now that she thought about it, it was true; the Rinnegan bearer had the best chance of taking Gaara on. Water would weigh the sand down and cause it to clump, making it much less effective if not render it completely useless. On top of that, he was the only one of them who might actually survive getting caught by the sand, as he could simply use Shinra Tensei to blow the sand away.

Sasuke, meanwhile, wasn't happy at the thought of needing to rely on someone else against an opponent. He knew it was the smart choice, but that didn't mean he had to like it. His fist clenched as his mind dwelled over the idea of another opponent Naruto could defeat that he couldn't. He resolved that, if he did have to face Gaara, he would find some way to defeat him. It would be the next milestone on his path to reaching his brother.

Naruto's head suddenly jerked in another direction, the memories of another clone reaching him.

"Looks like we've got some live ones. My clones found another team of Suna ninja with an earth scroll." He stood up, still looking in their direction, activating his dojutsu and making the cross shaped hand seal for his shadow clone jutsu. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>As Naruto and his team made their way to the group his clones had scouted out, another of his doppelgangers was leaping from branch to branch, focusing all the chakra in its existence to increase its speed to the absolute limit as it tried to lead its pursuer away from the direction it now knew its original was heading in.<p>

Its eyes widened behind its sunglasses as it felt a wave of killing intent crash down on it from above. Its head jerked to look above it to find an enormous snake lunging at it from above, its massive maw wide open and ready to swallow him whole.

The doppelganger barely managed to jump out of the way, leaping off of the branch a moment before the serpent reached it, tearing the large branch off of the tree as easily as one would snap a twig.

The snake quickly slithered up the tree the Naruto clone had landed on, wrapping around it as the clone jumped out of it.

"Kukukuku…"

The chilling chuckle of the serpent's master reached the clone's ears as it flew through the air. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he saw the scales of the serpent part as the creature's master: the creepy Kusa kunoichi, rose out, covered lightly in mucus.

"This has been quite amusing, but I believe it's time this game of cat and mouse came to an end, wouldn't you agree?"

The clone had been trying to escape, hoping not to reveal any of its original's abilities against the obviously dangerous adversary, but now it was clear it wouldn't get away. It raised its hands to make hand seals, but it only managed to form a single one before, much to its surprise and disgust, the woman's tongue shot out of her mouth with insane speed. In the blink of an eye, the appendage had wrapped around the clone's ankle.

The doppelganger could do nothing as it was suddenly, violently whipped through the air by the prehensile organ and slammed into the trunk of a tree, bursting into smoke on impact.

"Hm…" The woman mused at this, sensing no other presence nearby. "Taking advantage of the boy's reserves by having clones scour the forest for targets, eh? How clever, if simplistic. Now… I wonder where they're hiding."

* * *

><p>Naruto's head shot up as he received the memories of his most recently destroyed clone, the feeling of the snake summoner's killing intent bearing down on him flashing into his mind causing him to come to a dead stop, leaning against the trunk of the tree he'd just landed on and suppressing a shiver, his breathing hitched in his throat as a single bead of cold sweat rolling down his face.<p>

That… That was insane. The combined killing intent Kakashi and Zabuza had released at their first confrontation didn't hold a candle to that of the Kusa kunoichi. When she first appeared, the clone was met with the full brunt of her killing intent. It had felt to his clone like the icy fingers of the Shinigami itself had wrapped around it throat, choking the life out of it as its nails dug into its flesh. That kind of killing intent couldn't be human, and begged a single question from his mind.

If the Kusa kunoichi wasn't human, what was she?

The clone had managed to shake off the crushing terror and immediately fled, hoping to and successfully leading the dangerous adversary away from the three of them before being destroyed.

The blonds' teammates came to a halt on nearby branches and turn to him when they saw him suddenly freeze.

"What's wrong, Naruto? Another one of your clones show you something?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah…" Naruto said as his mind raced to process everything he'd just learned. Perhaps more ominous than the apparent strength of the woman, the kunoichi was apparently a snake summoner. He had asked Anko about the snake contract out of curiosity, and that, combined with what he'd learned in the history books, suggested something very bad about creepy genin.

Naruto looked back and forth between his teammates.

"Guys, listen. Don't ask me why because there's not a story behind it like what happened with Gaara, but trust me, that creepy Kusa kunoichi with the long tongue? If you see her, run. Don't try to fight her if you can avoid it, don't try to pull one over on her, just run. Got it?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed while Sakura looked concerned, each remembering the warning Naruto gave them not too long ago, and nodded.

"Good. Then let's get this show on the road. Our target's in my sights," He said, seeing the Suna team they were looking for through the Rinnegan's visual link.

The three Suna ninja, who looked a few years older than the rookies, had come to a stop and were currently resting under one of the massive trees as Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked down on them. It seemed that they had recently been in a fight, as one of them was eating a soldier pill and all were covered in dirt and light scrapes.

Suddenly, one of the Suna genin whipped around and threw a kunai in Sakura's direction. Her eyes wide at seeing she'd been detected, she quickly leaned back to avoid the weapon and drew a kunai of her own, only for one of the Suna ninja to breath out a stream of wind, kicking up a cloud of dust that obscured them from view.

Their senses warning them of danger, the three members of team seven turned to see kunai levitating in the air behind them before they all shot towards them simultaneously.

The three leaf genin jumped out of the tree just in time to avoid certain death. When they landed, Naruto moved forward to attack before coming to a dead halt. Surrounding the three were nearly invisible wires which crisscrossed all over their bodies. Chakra ran through the threads, increasing their strength and sharpening them to the point that they could easily cut through flesh and bone. If the genin of team seven even moved a muscle, they'd be as good as finished.

"Heh, that was pretty sloppy of you three." The leader of the Suna ninja spoke with an amused tone, the numerous wires that immobilized his opponents trailing back to his fingers. "Too bad, one move from my fingers and these wires will reduce you guys to cold cuts. I'd say 'surrender your scroll or die', but since you can't move, it'd be a pretty pointless question to ask, wouldn't you say? Well, them's the brakes."

However, the three apparent victors were alerted to the fact that something was wrong when their three captives smirked. Suddenly, three kunai hit the ground in a triangle formation around them, each with a small bomb attached. Before the Suna ninja could react, the bombs exploded, releasing purple clouds that quickly enveloped the area.

Cursing as he brought his hand up to shield his face and hopefully prevent him from breathing the smog, the lead Suna ninja clenched his hand, causing the wires to shift, but instead of the sound and sight of the three rival genin being sliced to pieces, there were three poofs of smoke. Their apparent captives had been clones.

They leapt back and out of the clearly dangerous purple cloud. The leader sensed something behind him and turned to see Naruto diving towards him, his arm reared back to punch him.

Normally, the Suna ninja would be able to block this and counter, but his body was feeling sluggish. It didn't respond quickly enough and all he could do was watch as Naruto fist closed in on his face, confirming what he already knew: that cloud had been poison.

Naruto's fist collided with the Suna ninja's face, sending him to the ground with a small trickle of blood escaping his mouth. He brought himself to his knees, only for a kunai to press up against his neck. He turned to see Sasuke standing behind him, holding the weapon. His eyes darted to his teammates, to see one buried in the ground up to his neck and the other in a similar predicament to his own, in his case it was Naruto who held him at knife-point.

"So…" Sasuke began. "I think this is the part where we say 'surrender your scroll or die'," He said, throwing the older genin's words back at him.

"Damn it!" The Suna ninja cursed.

"Don't bother with him, Sasuke," Naruto said, and his teammates turned to see he was holding up the Suna team's earth scroll, his captive now laying on the ground unconscious. "This guy's the one who had the scroll."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in response as his captive glared daggers at the blond, before he was knocked unconscious with a single swift chop to the neck. Normally, that wouldn't have been enough, but with the poison in his system weakening his constitution and slowing his heart rate, that was all it took, Sakura's hostage suffering the same fate soon after, though she used the bottom of her kunai.

"Alright, you hold on to the scroll," Sasuke ordered the blond. "Now let's get out of this forest. If we hurry, we can make it before sundown."

Naruto gave an amused smirk.

"What's wrong? Scared of being out in the forest after dark?"

Sasuke grunted.

"Hardly. I just don't want to deal with the other teams attacking under the cover of night when we've already got both scrolls."

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Sasuke."

Of course he'd already known Sasuke's reasoning, he just couldn't help making a remark. A moment later, he turned and looked out to the forest with a slightly grim expression as a set of memories reached him.

That Kusa kunoichi had just destroyed another of his clones, which he was still using to gather information on the other teams and the forest. This was not a good sign as this was the seventh one she had destroyed. There was no chance she couldn't have found another group more easily by now, which could only mean she was targeting their team.

Sakura gave him a concerned look at his change in demeanor.

"Naruto, is something wrong?"

"No," Naruto replied after a moment. "I was just thinking I agree with Sasuke. We should get out of here." Naruto then made the hand sign for his most used jutsu, and three clones burst into existence, his dojutsu still active and blazing on him and his clones.

Sasuke looked curiously at the blond.

"What are you doing?"

The purple eyed blond turned to his teammate as two of his clones used henge'd Sakura and Sasuke's forms.

"I just thought it be a good idea to send some decoys ahead of us. You know, in case anyone had the same idea we had and decided to camp out near the tower."

Sasuke frowned, knowing that there was something more Naruto wasn't telling them, but nodded.

* * *

><p>In short order, the three genin had returned to the trees and were making their way to the tower at top speed, leaping from branch to branch faster than the untrained eye could follow as they made their way to the tower. They hadn't even made it a quarter of the way before Naruto's head shot up.<p>

"INCOMING!"

Just a moment later, a giant serpent shot out of the canopy above the trio. The three genin leapt out of the way as the serpent slammed, jaws wide open, into the tree with such force that the entire thing, massive as it was, shook from the impact.

Just as Naruto landed he sensed something coming towards him, fast. He jumped backwards just in time to avoid a swipe.

When Naruto could see his attacker, he found himself rather disturbed by the sight that met him. It was the Kusa kunoichi, but then, he'd expected that from the snake. What he hadn't expected was for the woman to have her body in such a distorted state. She had her body coiled around the branch, as if she were a serpent herself.

The mysterious kunoichi gave a sinister sounding chuckle, the sound a mockery of what such a gesture should be that unnerved the three genin.

"Well well…" She began as she slithered up the branch, her body righting itself as it uncoiled until she was standing up straight, looking down on her three targets. Of course, at this point, the Kusa kunoichi bitterly expected them to be decoys, and had decided to make the blond suffer for it if he didn't provide adequate entertainment, but one must always be thorough. "It would seem this little chase of ours has come to an end. You've worked hard to throw me off your trail. So, I wonder…" She took a step forward, bringing a clawed hand over her face. "… what will you little mice do, now that you find yourself cornered by your predator."

Naruto took a moment to swallow any hesitation he might be feeling before shooting back at the snake like kunoichi.

"'Predator'? More like stalker. You've been dogging us since we set foot in this forest. What's got you so interested in the three of us, or is it just because you have some sick obsession with kids half your age?"

"Kukukuku…" The Kusa kunoichi released another unsettling chuckle, amusement clear in her eyes and a wicked smirk on her face. Deciding to humor the boy, she responded, "Would it really matter why I'm fixated on the three of you? But if you really want me to give a reason for your misfortune, then perhaps I'm simply the type who gets excited by the hunt and chose you because you seemed like a challenge. Perhaps I have something against you three. Perhaps you're correct in your assumption." Her smirk grew a little when they shuddered before she decided to give a more serious answer. "Or maybe… it's something you have that caught my eye."

Before they could answer the snake like kunoichi burst forward, moving at such a speed that her image blurred. In an instant she was upon them, but to her mild surprise, they were ready. Wanting to get rid of the annoyances before going after her true objective, she targeted Sakura first, but the young kunoichi had already dropped into a combat stance and intercepted her punch, though she was unable to counter as the older kunoichi lifted her foot, attempting to kick the pink haired girl's chin, forcing her to step back, then leap away when the snake summoner brought her foot back down, the impact shattering the bark of the branch they were on.

The serpentine woman ducked as Naruto jumped into the air and unleashed a sweeping kick aimed at her face, before catching a punch from Sakura while Naruto used the momentum of his spin to throw another fist her way from above, which she deflected by grabbing his wrist.

She then became aware of Sasuke, who had pulled out a trio of shuriken and sent them flying her way. She twisted her body around the weapons before throwing the two of them away. Normally, she would have brought them into the path of the weapons, but it wouldn't do if one of them died at this point.

However, that didn't mean it wasn't a prime opportunity to take one of them out of the battle. While Sakura was rapidly speeding towards a branch, Naruto was on a collision course with the snake, which had silently slithered up the tree.

She watched as the giant reptile opened its mouth to swallow the blond whole, but the next moment something occurred that would shock the snake summoner.

Naruto, who shouldn't have been able to see or sense the snake, pulled out a kunai with an explosive note and threw it at the snake's mouth. The serpent jerked back, hissing in pain as the weapon lodged into its upper jaw before it detonated, blowing its head away in a shower of blood and gore.

The snake like kunoichi then frowned as, out of the corner of her eye, she saw 'Sakura' dispel into smoke, revealing it had been yet another clone. Sensing 'Sasuke' was coming to attack from behind, she whipped around with a clearly annoyed expression and unleashed a multitude of serpents from her sleeve, which grabbed onto the boy and bit him in various places, causing him to burst into smoke as well.

She then turned to the sole survivor of the trio of clones, who was diving down at her from an upper branch. Her mouth twisted into a scowl, she prepared to intercept, only for her expression to take on a hint of curiosity as the clone reached for the zipper of its tracksuit, a slightly predatory grin on its features.

Her eyes widened as the clone unzipped its jacket, revealing well over a dozen explosive tags. A second later, she found herself on the receiving end of an improvised imitation of the Shadow Clone Explosion Technique. The resulting blast was strong enough to destroy the branch, sending flaming chunks of wood falling to the forest floor.

When the smoke cleared, the snake like kunoichi was standing on the still intact base of the ruined branch, completely unharmed. She let out a furious snarl at the fact that it had just been another set of clones. She then calmed herself, knowing that she was near the real ones and reminding herself to be patient. That was the only reason she would suddenly be faced with decoys like this. The boy was only delaying the inevitable. But that in itself was an issue as she didn't have much time to accomplish her goals.

Her face then took on a contemplative appearance as she thought about what she'd seen in that fight. The blond was pretty clever, and with his ability to detect that serpent when he should not have been able to… she gave another malicious chuckle as she thought about what she'd witnessed.

"Well… it seems there may be more to you than meets the eye, Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

><p>Far removed from the conflicts taking place in the aptly named Forest of Death, Kotetsu kneeled down to observe a rather gruesome discovery, Izumo and another Leaf chunin looking down over his shoulder.<p>

Lying on the ground before them were three corpses, each having been dead for several hours and had already grown cold. More alarming however, were their identities and the condition of the bodies.

All three were genin meant to participate in the exams.

"This has to be some kind of kinjutsu…" Izumo stated, looking slightly disturbed as he scrutinized the bodies.

"Geez, this early on and there's already a problem…" Kotetsu murmured before looking up at the series of statues behind the corpses. He ran his hand through his hair before giving out an order. "Go and alert Anko!"

"Right!" The nameless chunin said before vanishing with a body flicker to do just that.

Anko, meanwhile, was sitting on the roof of the booth where the genin had received their scrolls, letting her legs hang in the air as she enjoyed a meal of dango and red bean soup.

"Ah… is there anything as delectable as dango?" She wondered aloud. "Once I'm done eating, it would probably be a good idea to head to the tower. The fast ones will probably be done by tomorrow."

She took the two remaining dumplings off the stick she was on and munched happily on them before throwing the now bare stick at a nearby tree, where it joined dozens of others in a perfect imitation of the symbol of Konoha.

"Anko, we've got trouble!" The chunin yelled as he arrived on the scene.

The snake summoning kunoichi tilted her head to the side. "Hm? What's the problem?"

"We found bodies, three of them! And there's something strange about them." Anko frowned at this.

An ill wind blew through the area as Anko and the nameless chunin joined Kotetsu and Izumo before the bodies, sending leaves and blades of grass soaring through the air as she looked down at the three corpses, her face a mask of apprehension and sweat rolling down her face as she registered their condition, and exactly what it meant.

"As you can see…" Kotetsu began. "They have no faces, it's like they've been melted off." And just as he said, the faces of the three corpses were blank, possessing no eyes, nose, mouth or any real structure.

Anko's breath quickened slightly as her mind raced at the implications. '_There's no doubt about it… this was _his_ jutsu! But what's he doing here? Why now?_'

"Show me their pictures!" She barked out the command as she rounded on the chunin.

"Yes, of course!" Izumo said before handing her the pictures. It hadn't been hard to discover their identities, even in their condition, as there had only been two teams from Kusa.

Anko grit her teeth as she saw the top photo and immediately recognized it. It was the Kusa kunoichi who'd handed her back her kunai!

'_This is the face he stole? Then at that time, he'd already… Damn it!_'

"This is bad! You three, report the situation to Lord Hokage and have some ANBU sent to the Forest of Death! I'm going after them now!"

* * *

><p>While the chunin made their grisly finding, both Sakura and Sasuke wondered what had suddenly gotten into Naruto. Just a few minutes ago, he'd ordered them to change course, even though they had already gone off the most direct path to the tower, and was now leading them on a winding, (ironically) serpentine path as if he was trying to throw something off their trail. More worrying was the sense of urgency Naruto gave off as he did so.<p>

To some degree, the two were glad he'd changed to this degree. His old self wouldn't be so cautious and would likely just charge headfirst into whatever awaited them. That being said, they'd also never seen Naruto so close to panic before. The fact that they didn't know what had gotten the young Rinnegan bearer so alarmed didn't do much for their nerves either. What had he seen that could have scared him to this degree?

Finally, Sasuke had had enough wondering and voiced the question that was on his and Sakura's minds.

"Naruto, this has gone on long enough." The young avenger spoke with a slightly irritated tone. "You've been acting strangely ever since we took out that Suna team back there, and now you're acting like we've got some kind of devil on our tails. What's got you so worked up?"

Naruto grit his teeth, though his frustration was focused on the situation.

"It's that Kusa kunoichi from before." His voice was clearly stressed as responded without looking back. "She's the reason why I sent those decoys ahead of us. Ever since this test began, she's been destroying my clones left and right, and just now she destroyed those three clones I sent ahead."

'_I hope that stunt with my clone slowed her down some, but I doubt that was enough to stop her. We have to get out of this forest before she finds us._'

"But…" Sakura began, a sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach as she began to understand. "There's no way she wouldn't have run into another team that was easier to track down by now. If she hasn't given up after all this time then…"

"She's not interested in the scrolls," Sasuke finished for her, realization clear on his features. "She's targeting us."

Naruto nodded.

"And the more I find out about her, the worse she gets! She's good, way beyond a genin or chunin, and her chakra's huge, I mean like Jiraiya's…!" Though it wasn't as massive as his own reserves, he assumed that the fact that he had a ridiculously powerful demon sealed inside of him had something to do with that. "… and her signature is just… disgusting."

Sakura frowned at that.

"Disgusting? What you mean?"

"Exactly what I said," Naruto answered. "Not even counting the fact that her chakra's purple while everyone else's that I've seen so far is blue, every chakra signature has a unique feel to it. Hers is not only twisted, it's like she's added all kinds of things to herself and warped her body and chakra to the point that I can't even tell if there's really a human buried underneath it all! It almost made me sick when I saw it! And that's not even the worst part!"

His description of the snake like woman's presence had sent shivers down the pink haired kunoichi's spine, and she paled slightly at hearing there was something worse about her.

"What is it?" She asked, afraid of his answer.

Naruto's expression turned grim and he said, "She summons snakes." At that, Sakura's face lost all color and her breath hitched in her throat. After meeting Jiraiya, she'd looked up what she could about the Sannin out of curiosity, and knew what Naruto's words meant. The Rinnegan bearer saw this and knew she was aware of exactly how screwed they were if someone this skilled associated with _him _was targeting them.

Sasuke quirked a brow at his answer and he tilted his head to the side, trying to understand what was so bad about that. Amusingly, given that he was the rookie of the year, he was the only member of the team not in the know.

"So what? You said that Anko woman summoned snakes too."

"That's exactly the point!" Naruto responded harshly while still keeping his voice down, turning his head to look at Sasuke over his shoulder. "I asked Anko about that, and there's only one other guy in all the Elemental Continents that has that contract! If she didn't get it from Anko, then she got it from him!"

Before Sasuke could ask who this person was, Naruto's entire body jerked, his face a picture of shock before hardening. Through his Rinnegan, he saw a glint of the sickly purple chakra that belonged to the Kusa kunoichi.

"Shit, she's on to us! Guys, move!"

Both his teammate's eyes widened before all three focused their chakra to speed up. A moment later, just as they took to the air for their next jump, their bodies locked up, their breathing reduced to struggled gasps as their minds were numbed by sheer terror.

The awful, overpowering killing intent of their hunter rained down on them. So powerful was the Kusa kunoichi's bloodlust that it caused the three genin to hallucinate, each saw themselves being brutally killed. In the blink of an eye, they saw themselves being slashed with swords, torn open and ripped to pieces, their blood painting all the surrounding trees red, before finally, it ended with the image of kunai flying straight at them from ahead and digging into their skulls.

As the visions ended, the members of Team Seven found themselves back in reality as the bloodlust vanished as quickly as it appeared, falling through the air as their bodies refused to respond as the crippling fear continued to grip their hearts.

Naruto was the first to shake it off, having endured killing intent from Zabuza on a regular basis and this Kusa kunoichi's through his clone, but even so he wasn't unaffected. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his hands trembled slightly for a moment. He turned to his teammates and was slightly relieved at what he saw.

With the threat of impending death by falling staring him in the face, the Uchiha heir managed to compose himself by biting his lip hard enough to send a trickle of blood down his chin, using the pain to overcome the fear as one might a genjutsu, and had grabbed the still immobile Sakura.

It was at this moment that Sasuke fully realized how much danger they were in. While his teammate's actions were enough to set off alarms. After all, the blond had never been one to shy away from a powerful opponent, and he didn't think that his recent growth in maturity would change that. Still, he'd thought that whatever it was, they could handle it. But this…

'_That… that was no genjutsu! That was just pure killing intent!_' The Sharingan wielder realized as he tried to get his breathing under control, the cold chill of fear he hadn't felt since the day he saw his clan slaughtered making itself known in his core. '_Whatever this is, we need to get away or we're dead!_'

The two of them managed to reach a lower branch rebound off of it, bolting forward at top speed.

"Sakura, are you alright?" Sasuke asked the girl he was currently holding to his body, who could only choke out an unintelligible, strangled sound, still under the affect of the killing intent and being unable to articulate a response. Her entire body was trembling and despite the warmth natural to the Land of Fire, the girl felt as if ice water was flowing through her veins.

'_Damn it, she's frozen! Not that I can blame her, but this doesn't make our situation any better._'

"Naruto!" He said, about to tell the blond to throw some clones at whatever monster was on their tails.

"I know!" Naruto shouted as he made a cross shaped hand sign, preparing to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu when he froze. That sickly purple chakra signature was now ahead of them, and gathering chakra for something. "Get back! NOW!"

At that moment, dozens of serpents, each large enough to choke the life out of a fully grown man, burst from the foliage, speeding towards them with their jaws wide open, poison gleaming on their fangs.

The two genin immediately reversed direction, leaping backwards off the branch they landed on away from the snakes, but it wasn't enough. The serpents were soon upon them, biting into their flesh, only to taste wood as they suddenly found they'd sunk their fangs into a pair of logs.

Hiding on the branch of a nearby tree, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke did their best to conceal their presence as they tried to gather themselves and come up with a plan.

"Sakura, can you move?" Sasuke asked.

"Y- yeah… I- I'm better now." The kunoichi responded. Even though she'd regained use of her limbs and mental faculties, her body still trembled from the after effects of the killing intent.

"We need to get out of here before she finds us again. Any bright ideas?" Naruto asked, looking at his teammates out of the corner of his eye as he tried to formulate a plan of his own.

"Oh, I'm afraid it's far too late for that." The unsettling voice of the Kusa kunoichi resounded throughout the area, before a dozen snakes shot from both sides of the tree they were hiding behind, causing the three genin to jump back to avoid them.

The members of team seven quickly leapt to another branch and the snakes coiled together into an obscuring mass of shifting serpents. A shape rose out from the center of the group of snakes, which gave way to reveal the Kusa kunoichi, most of the snakes bared their fangs and hissed at their master's quarry, while a single one wrapped around her form.

"Well, you've led me on quite the chase through this forest, haven't you? It's been fun, but sadly, all good things really must come to an end, as they say." The woman chuckled as she gazed at her prey.

"Congratulations," Sasuke said sarcastically "You finally found us, though it looks like someone really put you through your paces to pull it off."

The snake summoner's smirk didn't falter in the slightest.

"Oh, indeed your friend did; a valiant effort, and a wise one, using those clones to scout out the competition and lead me astray. But then, it's only common sense to desperately evade the eyes of a superior opponent."

Naruto glared at the Kusa kunoichi, doing his best to keep his emotions in check and keep her talking in hopes of learning more and stalling for time while they tried to think of something.

"So you found us. Now why don't you tell us what the hell your game is, you freaky old bat?"

The serpentine kunoichi let out another chuckle.

"My, how persistent, making me repeat myself. Haven't your clones already asked me something along those lines? What makes you think my answer will be any different now than it was then?"

"Then how's this? What's your connection to Orochimaru of the Sannin?"

Sasuke swerved on his teammate, shock written on his features while the snake like kunoichi's gaze trained on him, malicious amusement dancing in her brown orbs.

"You don't seem too surprised. Then again, you didn't really try to hide it. Anyone who's read the history books would see it. The snake contract originally belonged to Konoha, until Orochimaru betrayed the village. Before that, he allowed his student, Anko, to sign it. Those are the only two people in the entire continent that could have given you that contract, and you obviously didn't get it from Anko."

The Kusa kunoichi chuckled, but in an even more sinister manner than before, as she brought her hands together in a slow, mocking clap.

"Oh, bravo. You've certainly done your homework; although you're slightly off." She once more brought her hand to her face. "Nevertheless, that was an impressive deduction. As a reward, I'll tell you who I am; it is only courteous, after all, since I know so much about you three. Although first, I'll have to discard this face I'm wearing."

The three genin frowned at that, wondering what she meant, before their faces twisted in disgust.

The snake like kunoichi's fingers dug into the skin of her face, ripping through it as if it were a mask of some sort before literally tearing it off.

As the false face fell to the ground, the three genin stared at their adversary's true self, eyes wide and mouths agape.

Before them stood not a woman, but a man with skin so pale it was as if he'd never seen the sun a day in his life. He had waist length black hair and purple markings around his amber eyes with pupils slit, giving them a snake like appearance. He wore a beige tunic with an odd, purple rope belt tied with a large bow around his waist over a long sleeved black shirt and matching pants.

He gave them a grin even more wicked and malicious than his previous ones, his features making the expression all the more menacing, as his snake-like eyes gleamed in the few rays of light.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am… Orochimaru."

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked it. Please review.<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry for the wait. Here's chapter 9, I hope you all enjoy it.**

**Also, I'd like to thank you all for all the positive responses I've been getting for both my stories.**

**Just to let you know, I've decided to go ahead and rewrite my Nine and Seven fic, though I will keep the original version up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>The hearts of the members of Team Seven sank as they stared in horror as the one who'd been hunting them through the forest was revealed to be none other then Orochimaru, one of the most infamous, and powerful traitors in the history of the village. The snake Sannin smiled maliciously at the dread in their eyes.<p>

Naruto took a deep breath, knowing that fear would do him no good, and did his best to calm himself, and went back to his original plan: keep him talking and stall for time.

"Orochimaru…" The blond said warily. "Why would someone like you come out here yourself? What's wrong, can't find anyone stupid enough to follow you?" He didn't know much about the snake Sannin, but he knew enough to know he was the kind of person who would use people and then throw them away without hesitation or remorse.

Orochimaru chuckled, the sound even more malicious in his true voice, as he brought his hand to his forehead protector.

"Oh, quite the contrary. I have many pawns who would gladly give their lives to help me accomplish my goals." He swept his hand over the metal object and when the headband could be seen again, the grass blade symbol of Kusa had been replaced with the musical note symbol of Oto. "The new village 'Otogakure'? It's mine, you see, I created it. It's just that I like to take a more hands on approach for anything that really catches my eye."

Naruto's expression shifted to shock, briefly recalling the three sound genin, and then suspicion. He'd dropped a major bombshell so casually, and to genin no less. Was it because he no longer cared if anyone found out… or because he didn't plan on letting them live to tell anyone? Knowing dwelling on that wouldn't do any good, the blond continued his questioning.

"And just what is it about three genin you find so fascinating that you would come out here in person?" He asked, his body tense and ready to spring into action at any moment.

"I already told you, you have something that I want." Orochimaru responded as he removed his forehead protector and allowed it to fall to the forest floor. It just wasn't him to wear one, never was.

Though it wasn't what he'd originally come for, the blond was beginning to catch his interest. He'd been watching them for some time and it seemed the three had truly grown, more so than his informant's most recent reports suggested, especially Naruto. "Now, as interesting as this conversation is, I'm afraid I didn't come here for idle chit chat."

With that, he took a step forward, making the three genin fell into defensive stances more geared for flight than fight. Orochimaru's grin widened.

"Now show me… give me a glimpse… of your true potential."

Before the members of Team Seven could respond, the snakes coiled around the Sannin suddenly shot out, lunging towards them, causing the three to leap backwards to evade.

Naruto brought his right hand to the wristband on his left arm and focused his chakra into it. With a burst of smoke, a fuma shuriken was revealed as one of the serpents neared him. He sliced the weapon through the air, cutting the head off the snake in front of him before unfolding and throwing it, sending the over-sized shuriken flying, spinning at such a speed the weapon almost appeared to be a solid, spinning disc, and slicing through the snakes. When he landed, he took a brief glance at his teammates.

Sakura was clearly terrified, eyes wide and trembling slightly. While she had grown a great deal from her training, she wasn't prepared for something like this. Sasuke looked nothing like the cool and confident boy he knew, one could easily read the panic he was feeling. Of course, he didn't feel particularly confident about their odds either.

But that didn't mean he would just roll over and let Orochimaru get… whatever it was he came for.

His gaze returned to Orochimaru just in time to see the serpentine man burst into motion, blurring out of slight and vanishing into the foliage. One could make out the sound of him moving through the branches, slithering through them like the serpents he was associated with.

The blond followed the corrupted purple chakra signature as it raced around them before, in almost the blink of an eye, the legendary traitor was above them, leaping out from his, leaping out of his cover at Sasuke.

The Uchiha heir, a terror stricken look on his face, dodged Orochimaru's overhead attack and skipped backward at the snake sannin continued his vicious assault, jumping away as Orochimaru brought his fist down, shattering bark where he'd stood a moment ago. The Sharingan user reached into his pouch, pulling out eight shuriken and threw them at the Sannin, who simply weaved around them.

"Is this really the best you can do? How disappointing," Orochimaru commented as he calmly stepped toward him.

Sasuke quickly ran through hand signs. "Shut up!" '_Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_' Sasuke brought his hands to his mouth and breathed out an enormous fireball that quickly consumed the entire branch, but when the flames cleared, even though he'd been only a few yards away, Orochimaru was no where to be seen.

"Oh, no no, you'll have to do better than that," Orochimaru spoke from behind Sasuke. The Uchiha quickly whirled around, kunai in hand poised to stab him, only for the serpentine ninja to catch his wrist, knee him in the gut and then spin into a kick, sending him back a few feet, landing face down on the rough surface of the branch.

As Orochimaru approached the downed preteen, three Naruto clones launched themselves at him from behind as Sasuke got up. As the first neared him, Orochimaru spun around, extending his leg and catching in the face and dispelling it.

"I've had quite enough of these clones of yours," The snake sannin said in a mildly irritated tone as he the second of the clones reached him, the first leaping into the air and throwing a punch at his face. "Is this all you can do?"

Orochimaru tilted his head to the side and the clone sailed right past him before spinning in the air so he landed, facing the snake sannin, and launched itself at him just as the other clone reached him. The two doppelgangers attacked in perfect cohesion, their Rinnegan allowing them to watch him from both sides. Orochimaru side stepped another attack, leaving the clones side by side.

The two clones charged him as one, one leaping into the air and unleashing a sweeping kick at the pale man as the other threw a punch at his stomach, attacking in tandem, but the Sannin leaned back to dodge the kick, brushed the punch aside, and continued to block and evade their attacks as they did their best to keep him from retaliating.

Orochimaru seemed almost amused by the clone's efforts. He weaved around their attacks with ease, brushing their attacks aside or slipping past them with the absolute minimum amount of movement, seeing through most of their feints and evading the attacks when he missed one. At one point, a clone summoned six kunai to his hands and threw them at near point blank only for the serpentine man to bend his body in a manner no human should be capable of and dodge before righting himself and continuing the exchange.

Meanwhile, Naruto landed beside Sasuke with Sakura. In the time it took for them to reach him, the Uchiha heir had managed to somewhat compose himself.

"Come on, Sasuke!" The blond almost shouted. "Don't just sit there twiddling your thumbs! They're not going to be able to hold him for long!" Sasuke nodded and began to stand up.

"You're not going anywhere," Orochimaru said as he sidestepped a punch, swiftly maneuvering behind the attacking and lashing out with a kick at the back of its head… which it ducked under even though it shouldn't have been able to see it coming, 'c_urious_', before catching a blow from another clone and whipping it into the first, dispelling them both.

As Orochimaru destroyed the clones, Naruto threw a series of shuriken at the snake Sannin before clapping his hands together. "Wind Style: Gale Palm!" He called out, unleashing a powerful gale that collided with the weapons and sped them up. In the blink of an eye, they reached the man, who had just turned to face them as he heard Naruto call out his jutsu. The weapons struck true, impaling him in various locations, including his forehead… only for him to melt into mud.

Naruto cursed, having known it wouldn't be that easy to catch an S-rank ninja off guard. His trained sensed warning him of danger, he turned just in time to see Orochimaru appear beside him. He raised his arm to defend when he saw Orochimaru prepare to throw a punch, only to find it was a feint when he suddenly felt the pale man's foot collide with his chin, sending him off the branch and falling through the air. The snake Sannin observed him fall before using his chakra to catch himself on another branch before slowly advancing towards his prey.

Sakura, clearly terrified but now able to move, throwing several poisoned senbon, most of which Orochimaru weaved around without breaking stride and two he caught between his fingers before casually discarding them, noting the girl's use of poison. After a moment of hesitation, she charged him with a poison kunai, only for him to step around the attack and send her flying with a vicious backhand to the cheek.

Sakura was slammed into a tree branch by her back, coughing up a small amount of blood on impact, before sliding down to another branch.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan as he leapt away, using running through hand signs. '_Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!_' Sasuke breathed down a volley of small fireballs at Orochimaru, who dodged the attacks with ease before blurring out of sight once again. Sasuke reached into his pouch and threw kunai, but Orochimaru simply dodged them all, arriving on the branch Sasuke landed on a moment after he did.

Sasuke quickly went on the defensive, struggling to dodge Orochimaru's fast paced, fluid attacks, gritting his teeth as he blocked a blow with his arms with a cross guard but was pushed back a few feet regardless. While the least physically powerful of the Sannin, Orochimaru still possessed physical strength far beyond most ninja and Sasuke's arms were quickly becoming sore from blocking the man's strikes.

When the Uchiha ducked under a chop, the snake Sannin swept the boy's feet out from under him, but Sasuke caught himself and retaliated with a kick, only for the man to catch it and whip him around; throwing him into the trunk of the tree they were standing on.

"Come now, surely you can do better," Orochimaru commented bemusedly as he watched the boy get up on his hands and knees.

Sensing something nearby, the snake summoner turned to see Naruto in the air above them, having prepared a jutsu. '_Water Style: Wild Water Wave!_' A powerful stream of water gushed from the blond's mouth and Orochimaru leapt back to avoid the attack.

Seeing an opening, Sasuke smirked and charged forward, running through hand signs of his own. The water obscuring him cleared, allowing the snake Sannin to see him just as he completed his jutsu and reached the end of the sheet of water which now covered the soaked branch… which Orochimaru was standing at the edge of.

"Lightning Style: Earth Flash!" He sent out a wave of lightning from his hands, which traveled through the water and electrocuted a surprised Orochimaru, leaving him open to a single kunai to the neck from Naruto. The dagger struck true, digging into his neck, his face a mask of shock and a choking sound escaping his throat as he fell backwards. Both genin briefly looked hopeful, and then grimaced as Orochimaru melted into mud once again.

Sensing imminent danger, Naruto leapt from the tree just as Orochimaru's arm burst from the surface he'd been standing on only a moment before. He turned in mid air to see him rise from the wood and made the tiger hand sign, his cheeks puffing out as he kneaded his chakra into water in his mouth. '_Water Style: Liquid Bullets!_'

Naruto spit out four small balls of compressed water at his adversary, each moving at high speed, and each dodged with little to no effort, the snake like man simply tilted his body slightly to dodge each one as it approached, before thrusting his arm forward as the last one passed by. "Striking Shadow Snake!" Four snakes burst forth from his sleeve and shot towards Naruto.

The blond raised his arm to defend himself as the snakes closed in. However, when they bit into him he burst into smoke.

Sensing the blond behind him, Orochimaru turned, tilting his head just in time to evade another compressed ball of water. He turned and saw Naruto launch several more water bullets at him, which he walked around before blurring into motion, quickly reaching the Rinnegan bearer's location and launching a series of rapid jabs, pushing the boy back with each strike.

The purple eyed boy managed to deflect the first three before being struck in the stomach, Naruto could feel the blow digging into his spleen. This was followed up by two the chest before a fourth sent him back a few feet.

The young Uzumaki brought his hands up into a cross shaped hand sign, forming three clones and purposely making the smoke cloud they appeared in as large as possible to use as a smoke screen, before they all launched themselves at Orochimaru, two above in the air and two below on the surface.

The Sannin deflected a downward punch from the first Naruto in the air and as one of those on the branch neared, launching a punch at his torso, Orochimaru brought his knee to his chest, however, the snake Sannin was surprised with the result.

The blow struck true, drawing a grunt of pain from the boy, but he didn't burst into smoke. It was the real Naruto. The snake Sannin had expected Naruto to either attack from a distance with ninjutsu or be the last one to attack the clones had him distracted. Naruto had known that most people would guess that and purposely made himself one of the first attackers. The boy grabbed Orochimaru's knee, using all his strength to hold him in place.

Using this brief opening, the clone behind him leapt forward and punched Orochimaru in the gut, staggering the man and leaving him open to a blow to the face from the first clone. Seeing he was open, Naruto let go of the Sannin's knee and joined his clones, the trio attacking the man relentlessly, trying to give him no opportunity to recover and counter.

Finally, Naruto jumped and kicked the man in the chin, sending him into the air, where the clones had their fists pulled back, focusing everything they had into their next attacks. They struck him in his face, right in the eyes… only for him to burst into mud again.

Naruto felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, guessing that if he wasn't there the snake Sannin was attacking his teammates, and turned to see Orochimaru facing Sasuke on a branch a fair distance away from them, parrying the boy's every attempt at landing a blow on him.

"Damn it!" Naruto snarled before he froze, horrified realization covering his features. Orochimaru was focusing on Sasuke. What would three genin have that would interest an S-rank ninja enough to come out in person to see and possibly acquire it? He could only think of three things. 1) The Kyuubi, but Orochimaru wasn't focusing on him. 2) The Rinnegan, but he shouldn't know about that and again, the serpentine man treated him as a source of amusement and at some points a nuisance. That left 3) The Sharingan! He was after Sasuke!

While they didn't get along all the time, they were still teammates and on the rare occasions they saw eye to eye or had something else to focus on, almost friends, and he'd be damned if he stood by and let the snake Sannin have his way with a member of his team.

Naruto launched himself into the fray, his clones following suit, leaping into separate directions and bounding off of opposite trees, coming at Orochimaru from three different directions.

The real Naruto used Water Style: Liquid Bullets again as Sasuke was felled. The Uchiha suffered a chop to the neck, which closed his airway and left him open to three strikes to the torso, followed by a blow to the face that sent him to sprawling on the wooden surface of the branch.

Orochimaru deftly evaded the water balls, bending just enough for them to pass him by and with a sweep of his arm and a kick, destroyed the clones as they approached. He shot towards Naruto as he landed, slipping around poisoned senbon from the now recovered Sakura before reaching the blond and throwing a series of rapid strikes at the blond Uzumaki, each blow quick like the strike of the serpents the man had such an affinity for.

Naruto managed to deflect the first two, grimaced as he blocked the third, but was struck in the stomach with the fourth. The fifth blow struck him in the chest rattling his rib cage, before the next hit him in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and making him bend forward, where he found the snake Sannin's foot quickly approaching his face.

The kick struck true, sending in the blond flying and his sunglasses through the air, the left lens shattering to pieces. The blond hit the trunk of the tree they were on and slid down to the branch and sat there, his eyes closed and small trail of blood running down out of his mouth.

"Naruto!" Both his teammates called out, aware of just how bad the situation could get if Orochimaru were to discover the blond's dojutsu. Sakura went to throw more sunbon, but Orochimaru turned and shot his tongue out at her. Before she could defend herself, the appendage had wrapped around her neck, strangling her.

She gripped the prehensile organ with both hands, trying in vain to loosen it enough to draw breath, too preoccupied with suffocating for the disgust of having a tongue wrapped around her throat to really sink in.

Orochimaru jerked his head and whipped the girl across the trees and flying into Sasuke, releasing her from his grip and retracting his tongue as he watched the two fall out of the tree before turning to Naruto.

While the blond was amusing, his efforts were irritating and he was aware he was running out of time. Orochimaru decided to remove this particular thorn from his side before returning his attention to his true target: Sasuke, and began to slowly advance towards him.

Naruto sensed Orochimaru's approach and began gathering chakra, focusing it to make his next technique as powerful and focused as possible. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his Rinnegan from the man any longer, so he decided to take advantage of the fact that the sight of his eyes might surprise him enough to create a momentary opening.

"You've been quite amusing so far, but my business here doesn't concern you." Orochimaru chortled. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

Naruto took a deep breath and then cracked open a single, purple eye and glared up at Orochimaru.

The snake Sannin was visibly taken aback by what the sight of the ringed, purple orb. For the first time since their battle begun, his expression wasn't faked by a clone to let them think they had him or in anyway false. He was genuinely shocked by this new development. "What!?"

Naruto thrust out his palm, releasing the power he'd been building up. "Shinra Tensei!"

Suddenly, Orochimaru felt a powerful, invisible force slam into his stomach, the power of it flinging him through the air like a ragdoll. For the first time in a long while, the serpentine man was at the mercy of another's attack. The power of the gravitational push drilled him all the way through two of the massive branches and into the trunk of another tree, shattering the bark and creating a large indentation in the wood, out of sight of the three genin.

Naruto stared into the out into the forest Orochimaru had disappeared into, rising to his feet as the sound of the debris created by his attack crashing to the ground echoed throughout the area. His gaze didn't waver when his teammates landed at his side.

"Nice one! You nailed him, Naruto!" Sakura said, looking relieved the snake Sannin was out of sight.

Sasuke's crimson orbs stared after Orochimaru, a slight amount of hope clear in his expression. "Let's get out of here; this could be our only chance."

Naruto was silent for a moment, his determined gaze still focused in the direction Orochimaru vanished in, before answering firmly, "… No."

Both his teammates turned to him, their faces masks of shock and confusion. "What do you mean no?" The Uchiha heir began. "Have you lost it!? If we stay here-"

Naruto's whirled on the Sharingan wielder. "Did you already forget how easily he tracked us down? No matter how hard we run he'll find us before we get anywhere!"

"Then throw some shadow clones after him like before." Sakura said desperately, throwing her arm out in the snake Sannin's direction. She was fully aware now of the risks that came along with being a ninja. That she could die on any mission. But that didn't mean she was ready to die yet. "If we can just find some place to hide or make it to the tower then-"

Naruto gave a bitter laugh. "How long's that going to slow him down? If I try that, he'll take them out in a few seconds, and I don't think he's going to let some decoys fool him again either." He took a few steps forward. "Since this started, he's been focusing on Sasuke. I'm sure you can both figure out what that means." Sasuke's expression shifted to surprise and nervousness as he realized he was the Sannin's target. "But maybe now that he's seen my eyes, he'll be more interested in me instead."

"What are you saying?" Sakura asked.

Without facing them, Naruto replied, "… You two get out of here. Head for the tower, I'll try to hold him off as long as I can,"

Sakura's jaw dropped at that. "Are you out of your mind!? That's crazy, you don't have a chance!"

Sasuke's expression twisted into a grimace. He wasn't sure what to feel about the situation. In the back of his mind, it occurred to him he was being outshined by his teammate again. He wasn't prepared to fight against these odds, about, he realized, the same odds he'd be up against if he actually encountered Itachi right now. When actually faced with a situation where his teammates lives were in danger against insurmountable odds and it wasn't spur of the moment like what happened at the bridge, he wasn't sure he was ready to take that risk. But Naruto _was_. Yet another way the blond had surpassed him, making him doubt his own growth once more.

On the other hand, while it certainly showed that the blond was braver than he was, that wouldn't help it win here, nor would mere bravery help him take down his brother when the time came. Still, how could he hope to defeat his brother if he didn't have the guts to face another similarly powerful opponent?

However, that wasn't his concern at the moment. His mind was focused on the fact that his teammate was about to sacrifice himself for their sakes, something he'd do everything in his power to avoid.

"Don't be an idiot, listen to her! This is suicide!"

Naruto rounded on his teammates, the resolute look in the purple eyes they so rarely saw surprising them both. "And what chance have we got if we got if I don't? This is your best bet to reach the tower! Look, this isn't up for debate, get out of here!" He made a familiar cross shaped hand sign and three clones materialized at his side.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, reaching for the blond as he and his clones leapt off.

'_They're right about one thing, this is crazy! I must really be an idiot to go through with this._' Naruto thought to himself as he got closer to that twisted purple chakra signature. Even so, he knew he was right. The way he'd been able to find them no matter what he threw in their way… no amount of clones could slow the snake Sannin down enough for them to reach the tower, and they didn't have any way to hide he wouldn't be able to see through. This was pretty much the only way any of them might escape.

Both of his teammates could only look on as the blond vanish with shocked expressions.

Sakura brought her hands together and stared at her feet, her mouth pressed into a thin line as her mind raced to catch up with the situation.

Naruto had just given her an out. A way to escape what was almost certain death and she realized he was right, with someone of Orochimaru's caliber after them and without the aid of a similarly high leveled ninja and with the tower still more than half an hour away, all they could really do was pray for a miracle. She wasn't ready to die… but was she anymore prepared to stand by and let her teammate, her friend, face such hopeless odds on his own? Was she willing to abandon Naruto and save herself and the object of her affection?

Thoughts of her friendship with the young Uzumaki and the happy memories she shared with her entire team flooded her mind as she considered her situation before she looked forward, all conflict having left her face as she made her decision.

She couldn't… she couldn't just stand by and let the blond face these impossible odds alone. Besides, the chances that Naruto could hold off Orochimaru long enough for them to reach the tower were slim. Together, they might be able to give Sasuke enough time to escape.

She looked to Sasuke, whose fearful expression had given way to an unreadable one as his crimson orbs shifted back to their normal coal color. The blond was, as much as he hated admitting this, his rival, and despite how they annoyed him, despite his growing jealousy, he and Sakura were the closest thing he had to friends, to family.

The thought of losing someone else close to him, the terror he was feeling, the feeling of being hunted down by a vastly superior opponent and facing his imminent demise brought back memories of that fateful day. The day his brother removed his mask, showed his true face and massacred their entire clan. The day his childhood came to an end and so many happy memories were forever tainted black.

He remembered the horror when his brother cast that absurdly powerful genjutsu and forced him to watch as he murdered everyone Sasuke held dear. His brother's parting words rung in his ears as his face twisted into an angry, almost tortured look.

'_You're not even worth killing, my foolish little brother._' The memory of the calm, aloof voice of his older brother seemed to echo through his skull. '_If you want to kill me, then hate and despise me. Live a long and unsightly life, cursing my name. Now run… run away. Cling to your pitiful life, and live with the shame._'

'_NO!_' Sasuke thought resolutely, his Sharinagn blazing back to life.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Orochimaru sat in the crevice his impromptu trip created in the tree he'd been sent into. His face tiled downward and his hair covering his face. The power of the attack would have broken the bones of many lesser shinobi, but with his endurance and the various experiments he'd performed on himself, he was barely even injured, though for a mere genin that was a feat in itself.<p>

After a moment, a malicious chuckle escaped his lips, growing in volume and intensity until borderline maniacal laughter echoed throughout the area.

The snake Sannin could hardly believe it. The Rinnegan! The power of the Sage of the Six Paths, the power he coveted above all else. Appearing right before his eyes in someone whom, only a few months ago, he'd dismissed as having no talent based on the information he'd received.

Finding the Rinnegan while searching for the Sharingan… that was like striking gold while digging for copper!

Oh, but there was a taste of irony in this situation. He had found a treasure beyond anything he'd hoped to find here, his ultimate goal beyond the Sharingan… and he wouldn't be able to take it. While the Sharingan's ability to copy jutsu would be useful, the Rinnegan's abilities would be far more valuable to him. Unfortunately, the boy's status as a Jinchuriki would make it impossible for the snake Sannin to use him as he planned to use Sasuke. Not to mention he had some old acquaintances whom he wasn't ready to face just yet that would no doubt be rather cross with him if he managed to bring the boy under his control. He'd have to think on it, he might actually be worth the risk anyway.

He rose to his feet as he sensed the blond approach. He also detected three duplicates of the boy, hiding, no doubt waiting for any perceived opening or preparing a trap. He couldn't even be sure the blond now standing across from him was the real one. The fact that they didn't simply attack suggested they weren't all clones however. So, the boy was prepared to sacrifice himself for his teammates? How very much like a Leaf ninja. How noble.

Nobility was overrated.

Orochimaru couldn't help but chuckle once again and spoke in a mocking tone. "So you've come before me willingly? How brave, sacrificing yourself for your comrades. Such a righteous ninja you are, though that's something of an oxymoron, wouldn't you agree?"

Naruto gave a grin, though it was more strained than his usual one. He wanted to keep him talking, the longer he did the better than chance his teammates could get away. "Maybe it is, but I've always followed my own nindo."

Orochimaru observed his expression and the solid look in those legendary eyes.

'_It's not that he doesn't feel fear. He knows exactly what his chances are. And yet…_'

"Aren't you afraid of dying? Of never accomplishing your dreams? You should be aware that at your level, this battle is hopeless," he said, angling for something to use to corrupt the boy.

"Of course I'm scared," Naruto answered. "But I decided a long time ago that no matter what the odds or what was up against, I'd never give up. Never surrender. Besides, I'm not going to die, not until I become Hokage." He wasn't delusional enough to believe saying that would make it true, he said it more to convince himself but he'd never give up on his dream until the bitter end.

Orochimaru scoffed, arching an eyebrow. "Hokage? That's your dream? Why on earth would you want such a title? All it is is a death warrant, a promise to give one's life for the sake of this worthless village. A sucker's bet only a fool would seek."

Naruto's expression hardened. "I don't care who you are or what you're capable of, I'm not going to let you badmouth the title of Hokage."

"Quite the spirited one, aren't you?" Orochimaru asked, amused by the boy's defiance. "But why would you want to sacrifice yourself for the sake of a village that has shown you nothing but scorn?" Seeing the blond's surprised look, the snake Sannin chuckled. "Oh, don't be so surprised. Didn't I tell you I knew all about the three of you? Throughout your entire life, the people of this village have loathed you, all because of what you carry, the burden you were forced to bear. You seek the title of Hokage for the acknowledgment it would bring and so that you can finally be accepted, isn't that right?"

The legendary traitor waited for a moment to let his words sink in. Seeing the blond wasn't responding, he continued, "Tell me, do you even know what it is your truly want? Do you have a purpose beyond playing childish pranks to avenge yourself and seeking the recognition you so richly deserve? If acceptance is what you want, there are far easier ways to find it."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked warily.

"You could always leave this little cluster of huts," Orochimaru chortled. "You know of missing-nin, why not become one yourself? And search for a place that will accept you as you are now, rather once than prove your worth. You have so much potential, why waste it on these people who mistreated you for all these years? The reason I built Otogakure was to create a place where one could find one's true self. No matter what form your power takes or what lies inside you, your treatment is based solely on your capabilities. It's a place where anyone can find acceptance." He held out his hand towards the blond. "If you were to join me, you would never again know the hatred you've experienced your whole life. You would have a true home that acknowledges your existence, and power enough to make all those who've hurt you suffer for their foolishness. And I'll help you find what it is you truly seek, no matter what it is your heart desires."

Naruto's brow furrowed and after a moment, his hand clenched. He'd be lying if he said he'd never resented the people of the village, that the thought of getting revenge never crossed his mind or that some small part of him didn't find the man's honeyed words tempting. But he would never take such an offer. He knew enough about Orochimaru to know that he had no true concern for anyone but himself.

Besides, he didn't need help finding out who he really was, he already knew, and one thing the blond was was loyal to a fault. The village was his home, and even if there were a lot of people he didn't like, there were people he cared for here too and he would never betray or abandon them.

"Is this supposed to be the part where I join you and become another of your pawns?" Naruto asked contemptuously. Orochimaru let his hand fall to his side, his grin fading as he listened. "Hate to break it to you, but I don't need any help finding out about myself. I never doubted who I was, and I already know why I'm here. I'm the Leaf's Naruto Uzumaki! And you might as well give up trying to get me to join you right now, because something else I know…" He stared right into the Sannin's amber orbs. "I am _nothing_ like you, and I never will be."

Orochimaru sighed, tilting his head to the side and placing his hand on his hip.

"Such fire in your eyes… I see you're the type to never give up. A pity… such a waste of potential." He had decided for certain now, there was no point in giving Naruto the gift he'd planned for Sasuke. He could see far too much of his parents in him, in his eyes, his words and the way he held himself. He was certain if he did give Naruto his gift, though he had no doubt the boy had a dark side he was keeping suppressed, he would just turn out like Anko and reject it. Oh well… this was still a rare opportunity to see the Rinnegan in action, though he'd have to cut the performance short. He had to track down the boy's teammates after all.

"Very well… then let's have some fun. I'll give you a glimpse of the power you've turned down." With a slight chuckle, his grin returned. "Just a taste before you die."

The snake Sannin shot forward, reaching Naruto's position in a burst of speed invisible to the untrained eye, and instantly began to fire off rapid strikes at the boy.

Remembering the surprising amount of strength the thin man possessed, Naruto attempted to deflect the attacks, but was only barely keeping up.

The Snake Sannin ducked as a bullet of water flew where his head had been just a moment before. He slipped around two more as he continued his attack on the blond until he launched an attack at his face, which the blond was forced to block, followed by a kick that caused the blond to disperse into smoke, revealing him to be another clone.

Orochimaru immediately vanished in a burst of pure speed and shifted once more into his more serpentine movement, slithering through the trees and reaching one of the other clones in an instant, destroying it with a single attack, and then did the same to the next, leaving only the real one.

Soon enough, the snake Sannin was upon the real Naruto, shooting out of the dense foliage and poised to strike. Naruto leapt backwards to avoid the attack and thrust his fist at the man.

"Wind Style: Wind Fist!" A compressed pocket of air was released from his hand and flew towards the man, who ducked under the attack and joined the blond on the branch, his body regaining the posture of a man, and moved forward to attack.

Naruto dodged two strikes before slipping past a kick and throwing a punch at the Snake Sannin's stomach, which the snake Sannin slipped around. Naruto leapt backwards to avoid a counter attack and leapt jumped forward with a high kick.

Orochimaru caught the attack, but Naruto twisted into a spinning kick in the middle of the attack, forcing the Snake Sannin to throw him away.

Naruto flew all the way to the trunk but landed on his feet, sticking to the surface with his chakra, and reared back both his arms, throwing two air bullets at the Sannin before launching himself at the man.

The sannin easily evaded the balls of air and blocked the blond's punch before engaging him in a fierce taijutsu struggle, the blond using everything he had to try to keep up with the Sannin, but it was hard, even with the Rinnegan allowing him to follow him movements, and he was unable to land a single blow.

Naruto dropped down and delivered a sweeping kick, causing the snake Sannin to jump. At that moment, the Rinnegan bearer brought his palm up and unleashed another wave of gravity at the legendary traitor, sending him flying into another branch, only for him to be replaced with a shattered log at the moment of impact.

The man hadn't even bothered to use a mud clone that time.

Aware of the danger he was in, Naruto leapt into the air just as the area he'd been standing on a second earlier burst into a cloud of dirt and debris before a wave of wind burst from the cloud, sweeping Naruto off his feet. He flipped around, dragging his hand across the wooden surface to slow himself as Orochimaru rose out from the cloud, his lower body transformed into a serpent's tail, ready to launch himself at the boy.

Just as the serpentine man began to strike, a wave of senbon flew at him and he reared back, the poisoned weapons passing inches before his face. He quickly back peddled as waves of the needles rained down on him before a wave of fire crashed into him behind and he vanished in an explosion of flame.

Naruto stared in disbelief as the Sannin was obscured from view, the fires passing a moment later to reveal he was no where in sight. Naruto could only stare incredulously as his teammates landed before him.

Sasuke turned his head and looked down at his Uzumaki teammate, smirking as he said, "You really need to learn to take care of yourself, Naruto."

* * *

><p>Anko leapt from branch to branch, searching the forest for any trace of one of the worst traitors in the history of Konoha since Madara Uchiha. Despite the fact that it had only been fifteen minutes since her search began, already frustration and anxiety were welling up inside the special jonin. But then, it always did whenever <em>he <em>was involved.

'_Damn it! He's already been out here for over an hour. He could have already gotten what he came here for!_' Anko thought as she maneuvered through the trees. She stopped for a moment, bringing her hand to the juncture of her neck, where a familiar pain began to stir.

'_What could be here that's so important that he would personally come here for it?_' She asked herself. Her grip on her shoulder tightened, her fingers nearly digging into her skin as her eyes hardened. '_Doesn't matter. Whatever it is, I have to make sure coming here will be the last mistake he ever makes!_'

After all, it was her duty to stop him, given their history.

* * *

><p>"Wha…" Naruto began as he stared at his teammates before he managed to find his voice. "What the hell are you guys doing!? I told you to run!"<p>

"Did you think we would just stand by and let him take you?" Sakura shouted back at him. "Don't you remember what Kakashi-sensei told us? Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash!"

"Besides, do you really think you could hold him off long enough for us to reach the tower?" Sasuke asked. Before the blond could respond, he continued, his eyes scanning the area for any signs of Orochimaru before he spoke. "Even if the Rinnegan caught his interest, he still came here for me. He'd take you out and hunt us down long before we could get away, and you're the one who said hiding was pointless."

"That's right," Sakura agreed, giving the blond the best smile she could muster in this situation. "If there's no way out… then we might as well face this together."

"Guys…" Naruto started, his eyes wide as he looked up at them with astonishment, but before he could say anything else, Orochimaru's chilling chuckle cut through the area, drawing their attention.

The three genin watched as he rose out of a nearby tree, looking down on them with amusement.

"How touching. While it was certainly fool hardy to return to face me like this, I must applaud you for making the correct choice. You're friends are quite right. As intriguing as your Rinnegan is, I'm afraid it's just not what I'm looking for." That wasn't entirely true; it was simply that the dojutsu's owner made claiming them awkward. To be honest, with the blond's temperament and the problems that would come with him, his best bet was to kill the blond, take his body for his experiments and later extract his eyes.

Besides, he already had plans and a theory on how to acquire the Rinnegan anyway, and following his original plan would be more beneficial in the end than just taking Naruto's. Although, it was a shame, given what he might gain from both the dojutsu and the boy's tenant, but if he took him alive his former friends would no doubt bring their full power down upon him for that very reason, something even he, as confident, perhaps arrogant, as he was, knew he couldn't handle at the moment. If the blond willingly joined him, it might be worth the risk, but since that wouldn't happen he'd just have to settle for less.

The serpentine man's overly long tongue escaped from his lips, licking them as his eyes trained on the Uchiha heir.

"What I'm after is the Sharingan. I never would have allowed the two of you to leave this forest."

Orochimaru observed the three, aside from a slight tensing from the two newcomers, there was no response. Seeing the focused and determined look on Sasuke, the treacherous Sannin's grin widened. '_They've truly resolved to see this through to the bitter end… this should be fun._'

After a moment, Naruto couldn't help but give a short laugh as he rose to his feet.

"We must really be crazy to go through with this…" The Rinnegan bearer said, grinning slightly as he looked to both his teammates.

"Hn, tell me about it," Sasuke replied without turning around.

Sakura looked at the blond, doing her best to keep her emotions in control and be reassuring, and joked, "It's your fault, you knucklehead. We picked up this habit of taking stupid risks from hanging out with you."

Orochimaru took a step forward.

"If your little reunion is over, it's time we got started." The Sannin pulled back his arm, preparing to unleash another barrage of serpents at the genin, when something seemed to strike Naruto and he held up his hand in a halting gesture.

"Stop, hang on a minute."

The Sannin stopped mid assault and tilted his head, regarding the blond with a curious expression as the boy gave him a serious look, his brow furrowed slightly as he stared at the man.

"Oh? And why should I stop?" Orochimaru responded with a raised eyebrow, feeling a hint of amusement at the Rinnegan bearer. Did he actually believe anything he could say would sway him? "Have you perhaps reconsidered my offer? Or maybe you've fully realized the hopelessness of the situation, that you're but prey at the mercy of your predator."

"No." Naruto shook his head. "That's not it."

The blond unzipped his jacket and reached inside, drawing everyone's attention. Orochimaru looked on in curiosity, wondering what kind of ploy the boy was trying to play. Could it be that he had something up his sleeve that he thought might be enough to stop him? Laughable, but an amusing prospect nevertheless, and the Sannin decided to let him continue.

Sasuke and Sakura both looked oddly at their unpredictable teammate, wondering what he was thinking. Both hoped he had something that might help them out of the mess they were in. After all, at this point, just about anything would help them.

There was a small puff of smoke from the blond's jacket and he pulled out…

…

Another pair of sunglasses. He quickly opened them with a flick of his wrist and slipped them on his face, hiding his Rinnegan eyes away from the world once more.

"Ok, I'm ready now," The blond said with a nod.

Orochimaru, one of the most brilliant minds in all the elemental continents, a genius in just about every field from science to ninja arts to the emotions and manipulation of people was, for the first time in years, rendered speechless. He could only blink and stare at the blond like he was an idiot. He almost likened the boy to his former teammate Jiraiya without the perverseness and stupid posing, but that thought was cut off almost immediately.

Jiraiya without his perverted nature just wasn't Jiraiya.

Sakura face faulted while Sasuke sweat dropped and slumped as he looked at his teammate.

'_Even with all his growth… he can still be an idiot sometimes…_' Sasuke thought to himself as he and Sakura realized he had just wanted his sunglasses back.

"Naruto…" Sakura growled as she picked herself up and wheeled on her teammate, though they made a point of being ready if Orochimaru attacked. "What's the big idea!? You made us think you had something to get us out of this mess and you go and pull a stunt like that!"

Naruto blinked and raised a brow. "Well how's that my fault? Don't you think if I had something like that I'd have used it by now? Then we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place."

They had to concede he had a point there. Sasuke sighed before saying dryly, "Can we get back to, you know, fighting for our lives?"

The two immediately turned back to Orochimaru. Naruto glared up at him from behind his glasses before making a hand sign. Rather than use a ninjutsu technique, he focused his chakra, drawing out as much as he could to increase his strength and speed. So much chakra gathered that visible wisps of the blue energy began to flow around his body.

Feeling the air grow heavy with chakra, Sakura took a deep breath as she and Sasuke tensed, preparing to attack. The Snake Sannin, curious of what they would do, decided to let them make the first move.

Finally, the three suddenly sprung into motion, jumping off in three separate directions and vanishing into the trees. Orochimaru simply stood still, smirking as he heard them move through the trees.

After only a few seconds, the blond reappeared, launching himself at Orochimaru once more, coming down directly above the Sannin with surprising speed and slamming into the branch with enough force to kick up a cloud of dust and debris. The Sannin leapt back to dodge before the cloud was blow outward and he suddenly found himself flung through the air once more from a wordless Shinra Tensei, weaker than the first but still powerful enough to incapacitate most chunin.

He slammed into the trunk of one of the trees hard enough to dig into its surface. He wasn't given a moments rest as Sasuke leapt out of a tree and breathed out a powerful stream of fire at the Sannin.

The man's lower body instantly switched into its serpentine mode and he slithered up the tree as Sasuke switched to Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu, spitting fire balls directly into his path as he moved up the tree.

When he reached the branch, a veritable storm of poison senbon flew out of a nearby tree, raining down continuously on him as he skipped backwards to evade the seemingly endless attack.

Just as the attack ceased, Naruto and three more clones of his burst from came down on him, the first blond spinning into a falling axe kick.

The snake Sannin raised his arm to block the attack and pushed him back but before he could counter, the others were upon him, attacking him in tandem and focusing all their chakra to enhance their speed to not give him a single opening to counter.

The clones were much faster, and almost seemed more coordinated than before, but the snake Sannin still had no trouble blocking the assault. Just as he began to strike at a perceived opening, he was forced to pull back as several senbon flew at his outstretched hand as well as his body.

Sensing something behind him, the Snake Sannin ducked just as Sasuke came at him from behind with a high kick. When the Sannin dodged, he spun in the air and threw several kunai, which the Sannin easily dodged even at this range.

As Naruto and his clones passed by Sasuke to continue their assault, Orochimaru raised his hands above his head and swung them downward, sending out a wave of wind with pure wind manipulation which tore a path down the branch.

The genin vanished in the attack, but after a moment Sasuke reappeared, springing out from the cloud created by the Sannin's attack and flying towards him, flipping over him and launching a series of kicks which the Sannin blocked. The snake summoner began to counter, but was forced back once more as Naruto and his clones launched kunai at him from four different directions.

Sasuke grabbed one of the weapons and charged forward. Even with everything they were throwing at him, only the fast and invisible attack of the Rinnegan had struck true on the man, showing exactly how far they had to go before they were capable of going toe to toe with this man. But he couldn't give in, he wasn't just going to let himself or hid teammates get killed.

As the Sannin once more blurred into motion, Sasuke felt several powerful emotions running through him. Desperation, a sense of hopelessness, anger that this monster was seeking to steal the power of his clan, and, surprisingly the strongest of all, the desire to protect his two teammates.

His dojutsu relied partially on the emotions of its bearer to develop, and Sasuke's Sharingan, honed a bit over these past two months of training with Kakashi, responded to the boy's feelings.

Suddenly, the world shifted to the eyes of the raven haired genin, and he had to suppress his shock. Their unstoppable adversary's motions and the world around him seemed to slow. The snake Sannin's moves, a moment ago almost impossible to follow even to his and his blond teammate's eyes, were perfectly clear, no beyond that.

Sasuke slowed as his mind began to process what was happening. The Sannin reached him and attacked with a snake like thrust of his hand aimed at Sasuke's solar plexus, only for him to slip out of the way.

The man pressed the attack, but Sasuke was now blocking every attack, though with some amount of difficulty, deflecting them so the man's surprising strength didn't harm him.

It wasn't the same as before, he wasn't reading and predicting the Sannin's next moves, he actually saw them! He could see a shadow of the man before him, performing the exact motion he did a second later.

'_This… This is incredible._' Sasuke thought as he deflected the Sannin's attacks. '_I can see…_' He slipped under a punch from the Sannin and launched a kick at his face. '_I can see!_'

Orochimaru leapt back to dodge the kick, regarding the boy with curiosity. He wasn't going all out, but still…

'_His movements have changed…'_ He thought to himself, then, his eyes widened as he saw the boy's crimson orbs. Both now bore three tomoe. His Sharingan had reached its fully evolved state.

Sasuke once more launched himself at the Sannin. Now that he could actually see what the Sannin was about to do, he was able to attack much more effectively. Though much to his frustration, he still couldn't land a blow on the man.

Orochimaru leapt over Sasuke just as several balls of air and water flew at him from the both his sides. The moment he landed, two clones came at him from behind. He deflected a punch from the first and dispelled the second with a chop to the neck. Sasuke came at him from behind, but the Sannin whipped around, too fast for the Uchiha's new vision to help him counter, and grabbed his wrist before throwing him away and dispelling the remaining clone.

As Sasuke planted his feet on the ground and flipped back to break his momentum and come to a stop, Naruto came forward, making hand signs as the two watched Orochimaru dispel the remaining clone. Sasuke looked at him out of the corner of his eyes and saw him making a seal sequence he recognized, and quickly ran through his own. The two once again unleashed a combination of Water Style: Wild Water Wave and Lightning Style: Earth Flash, this time at the same time, sending a wave of electrified water at the Sannin while Sakura threw kunai at him her place on a higher branch.

The Sannin sunk into the branch to evade the assault and tore through the branch towards Sakura. Rather than run, she used her control to call as much chakra into her arm as she could in the seconds it took Orochimaru to reach her and slammed her fist into the branch as he neared, actually tearing through it and surprising the Sannin, who briefly saw a little of his old teammate in the pink haired girl.

Sakura leapt off the now falling branch and before Orochimaru could attack her, he had to duck to avoid a fuma shuriken. He turned as Naruto approached, but rather than launch a physical attack, the blond clapped his hands together.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!" Orochimaru was once more sent through the air as a wave of wind slammed into him. He prepared to counter when the blond raised both his hands, his right palm pointed at him and the other seemingly focused on something behind him.

Naruto prepared to do something he'd never tried before. Since he knew of the technique and it was simply the inversion of Shinra Tensei, figuring out the other technique he'd used against Haku hadn't been too hard. But he'd never used it as he was about to.

Just as with Shinra Tensei, the name of the technique was engraved in his genetic memory. Glaring fiercely at Orochimaru, he called out its name, "Bansho Tennin!"

Orochimaru once again fell under the power of an invisible force, but this time, rather than pushed away, he found himself pulled toward the boy.

'_Interesting…_' Orochimaru thought as he quickly took stock of the situation. The technique prevented him from using his arms, which would leave most at the blond's mercy. But he wasn't most people. But he had to know that so… '_What's he…?_' His thoughts were cut off as his eyes widened in shock.

He got his answer when suddenly; his body was sliced cleanly in half from behind. He knew now what the blond's other hand was trained on, it was the fuma shuriken his clone had thrown!

Naruto released Orochimaru from his power and caught the fuma shuriken with his right hand. Naruto watched as the Sannin's lower body fell from his other half, his expression a mask of shock. The Rinnegan detected no change in his chakra, no indication of the Replacement Technique or a dispelling clone. For a brief moment, hope blossomed in the blond's heart as he believed he may have actually dealt the man a fatal injury.

That hope died a moment later when the snake Sannin's expression turned into a grin and something no one could have foreseen occurred. Dozens of snakes burst from the severed halves of Orochimaru's body. The masses of serpents linked and pulled his severed body back together, the snake summoner flipped in mid air half way though the process and landing on his feet in a crouch, once more in one piece, even his cloths had mended somehow.

"What interesting powers those eyes possess…" Orochimaru mused as he grinned at the boy.

Naruto growled before the Sannin charged forward. Leaping back and taking to the air, the blond Uzumaki threw the oversized weapon at the Sannin, who caught it easily.

However, rather than further frustration at how his weapon was taken, Naruto smirked before making a single hand seal.

Sensing something off, Orochimaru looked at the weapon he was holding as seals manifested on it a split second before the weapon detonated and the Sannin was engulfed in a massive explosion.

The blond landed and looked down on his handiwork as the light from the blast painted the entire area a fiery red. That was actually the same fuma shuriken he'd thrown at the start of all this. He'd modified the ones he carried in his seal and each possessed custom explosive seals on both sides of the blades for a total of eight.

As the smoke cleared, a heavily burned Orochimaru was revealed, shielding his face with both his hands. Naruto quickly unleashed a Shinra Tensei to send the Sannin flying. However, this time, instead of being sent into a tree, he collided with a web of wire strings created by Sasuke, immobilizing him as the needles wrapped around him, digging into his flesh almost deeply enough to draw blood.

"Quick, now's our shot!" Naruto said as Sasuke and Sakura quickly joined their teammate. Sakura let loose a volley of poison kunai as both the dojutsu users ran through hand signs.

'_Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!_'

"Wind Style: Great Breakthough!"

Sasuke exhaled a stream of fire while Naruto unleashed a powerful squall. The windstorm crashed into the first two attacks, creating a massive wall of flame and speeding up the kunai.

The Snake Sannin could only stare with wide eyes as the attack approached, too fast for him to attempt to escape.

And then he was caught within the massive conflagration. The three genin heard a scream as he vanished from their sight.

When everything was visible once more, the genin's hearts sank. At the end of the devastation created by their assault was a mass of dried mud in a barely human shape. What they'd hit had merely been another Earth Style: Shadow Clone under a henge to make it appear injured.

They heard that sinister chuckle behind them and turned to see the man looking down on them from another branch, completely unharmed.

"Well, that was certainly an impressive display," Orochimaru stated. He had to admit he'd underestimated the trio, especially the blond. He'd written the boy off as a failure due to his seeming lack of potential, believing only geniuses like himself or Sasuke could ever amount to anything. Even after seeing his dojutsu, he'd still underestimated the boy because he'd been the dead last of his class.

This had nearly cost him. That clever use of the Rinnegan's powers would have finished most shinobi, even though it had barely even been an annoyance to him after all the modifications he'd made to himself. He had to give the boy credit, he had potential, and not just because of those eyes.

Unfortunately, it was time for the game to come to an end. No doubt Konoha's ANBU were searching for him even as he spoke with the genin.

Naruto sighed. "I should have figured it'd be too much to ask for that that would work…"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Indeed. As interesting as this has been, I'm afraid I'm just about out of time, so I'm afraid I'll have to bring down the curtain on this little show you've put on for me. It's such a shame… you were so close to completing this exam in good time. But without your scroll…"

The genin's eyes widened and Naruto quickly checked his pouch. He felt the Earth Scroll he was carrying was still there, but then he heard Sasuke's shocked voice from beside him.

"It's gone!" The Uchiha heir exclaimed.

"Looking for this?" Orochimaru asked as he pulled out a heaven scroll from his pocket. Naruto prepared to use Bansho Tennin call it back, but before he could it erupted in purple flames. The snake Sannin then carelessly threw the burning object behind him.

"What's the fun in letting you pass so soon?"

The members of Team 7 looked confused at that. "Wait… you're just letting us go?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Kukuku… I told you I want to see your potential. I wish to see exactly how far you'll make it in this exam. However… allow me a parting gift."

"No thanks," Naruto responded immediately. "Just do us a favor and kindly get the hell out here, ya pasty faced bastard!"

"I'm afraid I really must insist." And with that, the Sannin shot forward once more and the three genin took to the air, scattering to avoid his attack as he slammed into the place they'd been standing a moment earlier with enough force to kick up a dust cloud.

He immediately targeted Naruto, jumping after him as the boy summoned several shuriken to his hand.

The blond through the metal stars at the Sannin and they seemed to strike true… only for him to turn into a log.

Before he could react, he felt something slam into his back, sending him flying into the trunk of a tree, slamming into it hard enough to shatter the bark and sending his face on a collision course with its wooden surface.

As the boy fell back, blood flying from his mouth from the impact, Orochimaru bit his thumb and pulled back his sleeve, revealing an intricate tattoo. He quickly ran his thumb down the design before he felt the presence of the team's sole kunoichi approach him from behind.

He leapt out of the way to avoid another of her supercharged punches, once again strong enough to completely shatter the branch he was on, and made a hand sign. The Sannin vanished in a huge burst of smoke.

Out of the cloud came another massive serpent, moving faster than Sasuke and Sakura could make a move and opened its mouth wide. The two could only watch in horror as the snake clamped its jaws shut around their teammate, swallowing him whole.

"Naruto!" Both called out simultaneously. The snake, dutifully following the order of its master, quickly slithered through the trees, disappearing into the forest.

"Now that he's out of the way…" Orochimaru said before making another hand sign. The genin, distracted by the Rinnegan bearer's fate, turned to him just in time to see his head shoot forward; his neck stretching unnaturally as he rapidly closed the distance between himself and Sasuke.

The Uchiha heir moved to defend himself, but he was far too late. The Sannin opened his mouth, revealing a pair of gleaming fangs as he drew close to the raven haired boy, and bit into his neck.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, rushing to his side as Orochimaru's head retracted and the Sharingan bearer doubled over, his eyes wide and his mouth open in a silent scream.

Pain! Worse than anything he'd ever felt, anything he'd ever imagined, coursed through his being, radiating out from the bite and setting every nerve in his body on fire.

"I hope you like my gift. It's but a taste of the power I can offer you. If you want more, seek me out, and I can give you all the power you've ever dreamed of. Power enough to bring your brother to his knees."

The snake Sannin's words barely registered in Sasuke's mind as every thought was consumed by the searing pain burning through him. It was almost enough to make him wish for death. If he could think, he might think he really was dying, it certainly felt like it. Soon, his mind sensed to register anything but the pain he was feeling.

As Sakura reached him, he let out a bloodcurdling scream that froze her to her core. To see him in such agony… and it was made worse by what had just happened to Naruto. Not even when she realized she was facing Orochimaru had she been so afraid. She felt sick from what she was feeling over her teammate's fates.

"Well, I have to be going now. Good luck with my subordinates. They should be searching for you as we speak." The Sannin said as he sunk into the branch, leaving the two alone.

"Sasuke, just hang on!" Sakura said desperately as she held the Uchiha heir, her eyes glimmering as tears welled up in her emerald orbs as the boy she was falling in love with was in terrible pain, and she could do nothing to help. All she could do was hold him and let his hand grasp hers, ignoring how strongly the boy gripped her hand, to provide what little comfort she could.

Finally, mercifully, the boy lost consciousness, and Sakura could see a strange mark, consisting of three tomoe, where he'd been bitten.

Tears now spilling freely down her face, she looked up in the direction the Snake had vanished in, wanting to pursue it and save Naruto… but if she did, she'd be leaving Sasuke at the mercy of the forest. It was obvious to anyone that he wouldn't wake up any time soon.

And so, for the first time since their team formed, a member of their team relied entirely on the pink haired kunoichi, and she was left completely on her own.

* * *

><p>At that moment, the serpent was following the command its master gave it, slithering through the trees as quickly as it could. Lodged in its esophagus, struggling against the muscles crushing his body and attempting to draw him down to the snake's muscles, was an irate Naruto.<p>

'_I can't believe this! That bastard had his snake _swallow _me!?_' Naruto mentally snarled as he fought against the snake's muscles, but with the saliva coating his body that was no easy task. He could feel the snake moving, but right how he had other things to worry about. After a few seconds, the muscles managed to force him to slide further down.

'_Oh hell no! There's no way I'm going out like this!_' The blond summoned a kunai and stabbed at the wall of the serpents throat, but the soft flesh simply yielded to the weapon without breaking. Naruto growled as his mind raced on how to get out of the situation until the proverbial light bulb went off.

"Alright, you overgrown wallet. You asked for it!" He shouted to the serpent before making a cross shaped hand sign.

The snake suddenly stopped as it felt the previously innocuous mass in its throat begin to expand and continue to do so until the snake itself began to expand.

It opened its mouth as if to scream as it stretched as much as it could before finally, it exploded in a shower of blood and snake skin, releasing dozens of Naruto clones, all of whom promptly fell to the forest floor.

After landing in a crouch and standing up, the real Naruto pulled off his sunglasses, now coated in mucus from the serpents gullet, and regarded it, then his clothing, with disgust as his clones did the same.

"Ugh… gross." He quickly got over this and looked around, and was instantly put off by what he saw.

He didn't recognize this area of the forest. Not at all, even though his clones had scouted most of it. He leapt up a nearby tree and ran up to the branches and looked around, bring his hands up to his forehead to shield his eyes as he scanned the area. Not only did he still not recognize anything or see any traces of chakra, but there hadn't been any small branches broken by the serpent or any other signs of where it came from.

He had no idea where he was… or where his teammates were, or what had happened to him after he was swallowed.

A sense of anxiety began to grow within the blond as he thought of what the snake Sannin may have done to his teammates in his absence. Worst still, night would fall in about an hour.

"Crap… where am I? I gotta find those two!"

* * *

><p>As the sun stood just above the horizon, painting sky of the Land of Fire a fiery orange with its fading light, Anko continued her search for the illusive traitor, leaping from tree to tree with a determined expression, allowing nothing to distract her from her hunt.<p>

Ah, but in this game she was playing, who was truly the hunter?

'_It's almost nightfall._' She observed, her eyes darting in every direction as the dull throb on her shoulder intensified minutely. '_I have to find him quickly. Once it's completely dark, I'll be at even more of a disadvantage._'

Briefly, her mind wondered once more to what the snake Sannin's purpose could be, but she dismissed that thought with a slight narrowing of her pupil-less orbs. '_I have to stop him, even if it costs me my life._' She thought as she landed on a branch and came to a halt.

'_And if I can't, then I'll have to hold him off until the ANBU arrive…_' She stood up straight, a slight tenseness in her posture being the only sign something was off. '_After all, you taught me everything I know. I was one of your students, and so…_'

"That's my job, right Orochimaru?" She asked with a smirk, a slight drop of sweat rolling down her face as she knew just what she was facing.

Orochimaru, fused with the trunk of the tree she had landed on with a jutsu, simply chuckled as looked at her and replied, "You won't have it your way." He knew exactly what she'd been thinking.

After all, once upon a time, she'd been his favorite.

"That's my line!" She took to the air, calling four senbon to her hand and drawing her arm back to throw them at her former sensei, but before she could carry through with her attack, the serpentine man's tongue burst from his mouth, moving quickly towards the purple haired kunoichi.

In an instant, the appendage had wrapped around her wrist. She winced at the lance of pain that shot through her arm as the prehensile organ tightened its grip, forcing her to drop her weapons.

Rather than allow Orochimaru to press the attack, upon landing on another branch, Anko immediately summoned a pair snakes from her sleeve which bit into the man's tongue, causing its grip to slacken, though their venom had no effect. She then grabbed the appendage with both hands and pulled back, tearing the snake Sannin from his place in the tree.

The serpentine traitor grinned as his former student attempted to real him in and suddenly retracted his tongue, propelling him towards her.

Before Anko could react, he slammed into her by the shoulder, crushing her body against the bark of the tree. This only deterred the special jonin for a moment, and she quickly grabbed her former sensei's right hand with her left and flipped their positions while pulling out a kunai with one swift motion.

She stabbed through her own hand, as well as Orochimaru's and into the tree, locking them in place.

"Heh, got you." Anko smirked as Orochimaru's serpentine eyes glared into her own. Unlike most, Anko wasn't the least bit intimidated by that serpentine gaze, especially not with what she planned to do. She grabbed his remaining hand with hers and made a one handed seal as she said, "Let me borrow your hand for a minute…"

The Sannin's eyes widened when he recognized the seal and Anko's smirk grew into a predatory grin as cold resolution showed in her brown orbs.

"That's right. You and I are going to die here." She closed her eyes as she prepared to sacrifice her life to bring down the man she'd once looked up to above all others.

'_Ninja Art: Twin Snake Sacrifi-_'

Her expression morphed into one of pure shock when the sinister chuckle of her former sensei broke out from someplace behind her.

"I'm afraid you will die alone, Anko."

She whirled on the source of the voice and saw him sitting casually on a higher branch, looking down on her condescendingly as he said, "That's right, a shadow clone."

She turned back to the pinned Sannin as she felt him begin to shift and saw he was melting away, revealing him to be nothing but another Earth Style: Shadow Clone.

"You're a special jonin of Konoha, a righteous warrior. You shouldn't be using the forbidden jutsu I taught you," He said while making a one handed seal of his own.

Anko felt as if wires had wrapped around her entire body, rendering her completely immobile and instantly recognized the technique.

The Paralysis Jutsu. A simple technique, that, as its name suggests, causes temporary paralysis in its victims. While seemingly useful, most found it useless in battle as it took a great deal of power and mastery to affect ninja. For the most part it would only work on civilians and wild animals not versed in the use of chakra. But when used by someone of Orochimaru's caliber, even the average jonin would be rendered helpless by it.

And so, Anko realized with a great deal of frustration, despite all her training to best serve the village and take down her traitorous former sensei should she ever see him again, the man had taken her out with one simple D-rank jutsu. He was just that far above her.

The purple haired kunoichi fell to her knees and struggled to life her head to look at the snake Sannin.

"Ugh," She grunted from the strain of fighting the jutsu binding her and glared at her former master. "Why did you come back?"

"And they say I'm the cruel one." Orochimaru chortled. "So cold even though we haven't seen one another in years…"

Anko weakly reached for the juncture of her neck, the dull pain now feeling like fire under her skin. Her fingers dug into her skin, just below a mark identical to the one Orochimaru had recently given Sasuke.

"Have you come here to kill Lord Hokage?" She asked accusingly.

Orochimaru chuckled at that. "No. I don't have enough men for that just yet. I thought I'd recruit some promising kids from my old home. I ran into some particularly outstanding kids just a while ago. One of them was that blond you took a liking to." Seeing her head dart at that, the Sannin's grin grew before he tilted his head to the side. "Oh relax. I didn't do anything to him, he's not the one I had my eye on. I was actually more interested in his teammate. Kukuku, I gave him the same Curse Mark I gave you just before we parted ways."

Remembering the Jinchuriki's team, Anko quickly deduced who the Sannin was talking about and said, "That's cruel… that kid's going to die."

"Oh, I don't think so." Orochimaru replied. "I'd say his chances of survival are about 1/10, but like you, I think he'll make it."

"Heh… you must really like him."

"Jealous, are we? Aw, are you still upset that I threw you away?"

Anko jerked as the pain from the curse mark intensified and that combined with the paralysis jutsu took what strength she had left out of her. She fell forward, bracing herself on her hands, unable to rise again.

"This one's far more talented than you." Orochimaru continued. "A bearer of the Uchiha blood. He's also quite attractive. The perfect vessel to be my successor." He stood as Anko curled up from the pain. "Don't stop this exam prematurely. Oh, and don't interfere with those three from my village." Purple flames rose up around his body. "If you do, I'll crush Konoha." And with that, the unnatural fires consumed him and he vanished, leaving behind a struggling Anko.

* * *

><p>Naruto was resting under a tree, staring out at his surroundings; the first rays of light shined through the forest as a new day dawned. The blond had spent an hour after nightfall searching for his teammates with no luck and, with the various dangers of the forest coming out and enemy shinobi waiting to ambush him, the blond had decided it was best to leave the search to his clones, find a hiding spot and wait to continue the search at first light.<p>

Despite his boundless energy, the young Jinchuriki did need to sleep and had eventually nodded off. Unfortunately, he was disappointed when he awoke to find that none of his clones had found a trace of his teammates.

As the first rays of light began to shine through the canopy, the Rinnegan bearer stood, immediately running to and up a nearby tree, bolting once he reached the branches, his Rinnegan blazing behind his sunglasses as he looked for any trace of his teammates. He tried to shift through the lingering memories of his clones, remembering where they'd already searched as he tried to think of where the two might be. He refused to consider the possibility that they were dead. He knew that if they had gotten away, however, then they were probably hiding, which would make finding them more difficult.

He stopped as two chakra signatures he didn't recognize became visible, partially concealed within the foliage of the higher branches. Quickly deciding he couldn't afford to waste the time to deal with them, he changed directions and went around their location.

About five minutes later, he came to a halt as he felt an almost undetectable shift in the world around him. Looking at his surroundings, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off…

His eyes widened as he realized he was under a genjutsu. He quickly released the technique just in time to sense a volley of kunai coming his way.

He summoned his own kunai and deflected the weapon before hearing something behind him. He turned his head and ducked as a genin from Ame attacked from behind with a sweeping kick and leapt away, only for a hail of senbon to rain down on him from above.

Naruto raised his arms to shield his face from the countless needles sped towards him, soon colliding with him and slamming him into a tree with enough force to kick up a cloud of debris, but when it cleared, there was no sign the blond had ever been there in the first place.

Cursing, the ame genin who'd gotten in close looked up just in time to see the blond Uzumaki falling towards him from above in an axe kick. He skipped back to dodge and Naruto immediately kicked off the ground and closed the distance between them, his fist raised and poised to strike him in the face.

The ame genin brushed the attack aside, and countered by raising his knee to towards the blond's gut. Naruto caught the attack and the genin twisted his body to launch another sweeping kick, which Naruto ducked under before shoving the genin away and charging at him.

Seeing the Jinchuriki pull his fist back for a punch, the ame shinobi prepared to defend only to find it was a feint. Naruto's foot collided with the rival genin's torso right in the center of his chest, knocking the wind out of him and opening him up to a blow to the face.

As Naruto prepared to continue his assault on the reeling genin, one of his teammates came at him from behind, forcing him to leap away again.

Landing on another branch, Naruto glared at the two genin, the first one straightening up and wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he matched the boy's fierce look with his own.

"Nice move, punk," the ame genin grunted. "But you should know you haven't got a prayer. Hand over your scroll or tell us where your teammates are, and maybe we'll let you live."

Naruto's eyed the surrounding area, searching out and quickly finding the third genin's chakra signature, before deactivating his dojutsu.

"Think so, huh? Then why don't you put your money where your mouth is? Go on and try it, I'll be happy to wipe the floor with you."

Actually, he almost had to thank the three genin. He was still pretty pissed about how the encounter with Orochimaru went down, and this was a perfect opportunity to let off some steam.

The lead genin scoffed. "Oh, a tough guy, huh? Wake up, dumbass, it's three on one. What're you going to do?"

A chuckle escaped the blond's lips as he looked at them and said, "That's where you're wrong. You picked the wrong guy to mess with, because I can never be outnumbered!" With that, he brought his hands together into a cross shaped hand sign and eight clones materialized around him.

As all the Naruto's grinned at their opponents as the original reactivated his dojutsu.

"How do you like that? But at least you were right about one thing…" His grin widened slightly. "It _is_ three on one."

The ame genin weren't intimidated in the slightest. "Ha! You expect us to believe those are all solid clones? Don't think you can trick us with a stunt like that!"

Naruto just brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles.

* * *

><p>Five minutes later and the battle was over. The ame genin had put up a good fight, but in the end it hadn't been nearly enough and the three now laid on the ground, the fight having brought them all to the forest floor, with various bruises and injuries and in one case, a busted lip.<p>

Naruto frowned in disappointment as he stared at the scroll clasped in his hand. To be more exact, it was an Earth Scroll, which meant that as far as he knew, his team was still out a heaven scroll.

With a sigh, he pocketed the new scroll, seeing no reason to throw it away. As he prepared to return to his search, he caught sight of another chakra signature in the bushes nearby, drawn by the sounds of their skirmish.

Naruto's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. He needed to find Sakura and Sasuke, he didn't have time for all the other genin looking for a scroll to come out of the wood works!

He prepared to return to the trees, pretending to ignore the presence and see what he did and, if he pursued him, lay a trap for the unknown observer, only for a familiar voice to call out to him.

"Hey, not so fast, hang on a minute." The surprised genin turned to see Kabuto step out from the underbrush.

"Kabuto?" Naruto asked, furrowing his brow at the gray haired teen. "What are you doing here?"

Kabuto chuckled, tilting his head forward and pushing up his glasses with his index finger.

"Obviously, I'm here for the same reason I presume you are. But I suppose you mean what brought me here specifically. I overheard the battle and thought I'd investigate. Pretty good job, you made short work of those three."

"Thanks, I guess. Are you here by yourself or are your teammates nearby?"

Kabuto grinned and tilted his head to the side as he asked, "Aren't you worried I might attack? I do need a scroll, after all."

Naruto placed his hands on the back of his head in a relaxed gesture.

"Nah. If you were going to do that, you probably would have by now." Even though he said that, he wasn't entirely sure he _wouldn't_. Still, he figured that if Kabuto did turn on him, he could handle it.

"Very observant." Kabuto let out another chuckle. "To answer your question, my teammates and I split up. We thought we'd cover more ground individually and then meet up on the third day." He reached into the pouch at his hip and pulled out a pair of scrolls. "I was actually headed there now. I got lucky and managed to get a scroll early. But, why did you even have to ask? Aren't you guys doing the same thing?"

Naruto winced at that, looking away and to the ground.

"Stuff happened… we got separated. I've been looking for them, with no luck."

Kabuto seemed surprised to hear that. "Is that so? Well, I've got nothing to do for the rest of the day, about I help you out?"

Naruto blinked. "Seriously?"

"Sure, we Konoha ninja have to stick together, right?"

Naruto grinned as he said, "Heh, you just don't want to risk being caught out here on your own, am I right?"

"Hmhmhm… Well you know what they say: there's strength in numbers, and you can obviously handle yourself. It's not like I'll be useless. I'm no push over myself and I can help you look for your teammates. So, what do you say?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment. Kabuto seemed like a good guy and he already had both scrolls, so he didn't seem to have anything to gain by betraying him. Of course, he could always want a spare, but he also raised a good point about numbers.

"Sounds good. Let's get moving."

* * *

><p>Hidden in the above ground root system of one of the forests massive trees, Sakura placed a cool, damp towel on Sasuke's forehead as the boy lay on the ground, still unconscious from whatever it was the snake Sannin had done to him. He was tossing and turning, as if trapped in some horrible nightmare, grimacing in pain and he was burning up with a fever. It hurt to see him in this condition. All she could do for the boy of her dreams was to keep him cool and gave him a herbal mixture that helped with the pain, though it hadn't seemed to have much effect.<p>

The pink haired kunoichi wished Naruto was with them. He was the one who was studying seals; he might have some idea what Orochimaru had done to the Uchiha heir.

She winced as she thought of her blond teammate, wishing once more that she could go and search for him, but knowing she couldn't with Sasuke dependent on her. She had no idea if he was ok after he'd disappeared into the snake's mouth. She told herself the Uzumaki survivor wouldn't let himself die like that, but for all she knew the thing had dragged him to Orochimaru.

She quickly shook her head to clear it of such dark thoughts. She had to believe that he was ok, that Sasuke would be ok. That he would wake up soon and together, they'd search for and find their teammate and then, this whole experience would become nothing more than a bad memory.

Looking down at the raven haired genin, Sakura could feel this ordeal taking its toll on her. She hadn't slept all night in case Sasuke'c conditioned worsened. She could feel her eyelids weighing down, her head dipping forward as her exhausted body began to doze off.

Her head shot up as she fought off the desire to just take a rest and she reached into her pouch, pulling out a vial full of food pills. Opening the vial and shaking one of the pills loose, she downed the red pill and instantly felt her chakra and body re-energize, though she still felt exhausted.

Once more alert, she looked up to the sky, hoping that this would all be over soon.

Unbeknownst to her, the three sound genin were hiding in the foliage just beyond the edge of the clearing, observing her and her unconscious teammate as they prepared to carry out the orders their master had given them.

Eliminate Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

><p><strong>As always, please review.<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey. Sorry for the long wait. Classes just started up again and I've got less free time. On top of that, I just got Grand Theft Auto 5.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Naruto bounded across the massive branches, his Rinnegan eyes blazing behind his sunglasses as he scanned the area for any traces of his teammates chakra, with the gray haired genin trailing behind him. So far, they'd found no trace of Naruto's two genin teammates.<p>

Naruto was growing more and more frustrated as time went on. It had been an hour since he met up with his fellow Konoha genin, and there still hadn't been a trace of his teammates. Once more fears entered his mind of what Orochimaru may have done with them, but he shook his head to ward off those dark thoughts, his face hardening in determination.

Turning his gaze back to Kabuto, who was currently looking off in search of any sign of other individuals, he wondered if he should tell him exactly who it was that was responsible for his separation from his teammates.

He shook his head, deciding to cross that bridge when they came to it. If Orochimaru had his team, then he'd send Kabuto away if he didn't want to face him. Until then, he'd keep quiet about it.

"So, Naruto…" Kabuto began, getting the blonde's attention. He craned his neck to look at him, the uncanny senses all shinobi possessed allowing him to continue moving at top speed without loosing his footing. "Where exactly were you guys when you were separated?"

Naruto expression turned sheepish as he replied, "Well to be honest… I don't know for sure."

"Huh?" Kabuto was obviously perplexed by that answer. "How can you not be sure? Don't you even know which way you came?"

"Well, kinda. I mean, know we're headed in the right direction!" Naruto replied, looking ahead of him again. "This is my first time in this place and the guy we were fighting could summon snakes and one of them kind of… swallowed me." His face twisted in slight disgust as Kabuto's eyes widened. "The snake got what was coming to it, but by the time I forced it to cough me up, stupid thing had dragged me halfway across the forest."

"Ah…" Kabuto replied, nodding. "That makes things more difficult."

Turning and looking ahead, Naruto said, "I've been using the tower as a guide. I'm pretty sure I know about where we were."

Kabuto gave a grunt of acknowledgement in response before commenting, "You're pretty lucky, you know? Not many could have survived that."

"Yeah, well I don't feel like it right now." Naruto replied, his brow furrowing. This wasn't the first time that had occurred to him. With a sigh, his gaze turned upward, looking at the clear sky through the forest canopy. '_Sakura… Sasuke… Where are you guys?_'

* * *

><p>Sakura stared worriedly down at her prone teammate, worry clear on her features. While Sasuke had calmed down and now lied still, his brow was furrowed and his mouth twisted into a slight grimace, showing he was still in pain. He seemed to be getting better, but he was still suffering.<p>

She wished she'd trained alongside Naruto in sealing jutsu. Maybe then she might have some idea what was happening to her crush, even if she knew she wouldn't be able to do anything about it, not knowing was killing her. And not knowing where Naruto was almost as bad. Was he ok? Was Sasuke going to be ok?

She sat back, placing a hand on her chest and taking a deep breath, doing her best to keep herself calm. Getting stressed out wasn't going to help anyone, and it might distract her if someone should happen upon them. She needed to stay attentive, not just of Sasuke's condition but of their surroundings. And so she sat and waited, her hands on her knees as she stared down at her teammate.

Suddenly, the stillness of the forest was disrupted by a rustling in the bushes, causing Sakura's eyes to widen. Immediately, her green orbs narrowed, discretely pulling out senbon needles with her left hand and shuriken in her right, preparing to face down whatever enemy might leap into the open.

Hearing the rustling come to a pitch, signifying whatever it was had left its cover, she half turned, keeping her weapons hidden, to see… a squirrel, chewing on a nut as it stared at her.

'_A squirrel?_' She asked herself, all tension leaving her form as she placed her hand on her forehead. "Geez, I'm almost as bad as Naruto was on our first real mission. I almost attacked some defenseless-" Her gaze hardened as the squirrel began to run towards her. Without any warning, she spun, rising to her feet in one motion and let her shuriken fly at the small woodland creature.

The star shaped weapon twisted on a curving path through the air as it flew towards the terrified animal. Before it could react, the tool struck true and sliced its back slightly, causing it to cry out in pain as a small amount of blood leaked from the wound before turning tail and fleeing into the bushes.

Sakura winced slightly at the sound it made, but it was for the best. She counted herself lucky that she hadn't just dismissed it and looked away.

She'd have missed the now torn and useless explosive note on its back.

She quickly reached into her pouch and pulled out a kunai, moving into a defensive stance as her eyes scanned the surrounding area.

"All right! I know you're out there!" Sakura declared fiercely, mentally preparing herself. She hoped that it was only one opponent she was facing, she highly doubted it though, but still she wouldn't give up. Naruto and Sasuke would never give up, and she certainly wasn't going to let them down.

This was why she'd been training so hard. This was where she'd make up for how useless she'd been at Wave. "Come out!"

"Well well, she noticed the explosive note. She's pretty sharp." A voice she recognized spoke out from the foliage. She tensed slightly.

'_That's…_' The three genin of the sound burst from their hiding place, the mummy like boy standing at the front of the group. Their posture was relaxed, the spiky haired one even sitting down on the root of a tree as he sent a confident grin her way. Clearly they didn't consider her a threat. '_Those three Oto genin._'

"You look like you've been up all night. You've done a pretty good job of being your friend's watchdog." The leading Oto genin said, causing Sakura to bristle. "But you don't need to bother any more. Wake up Sasuke, we want to fight him."

'_These guys are Orochimaru's goons…_' The pink haired kunoichi thought to herself as she recalled the Sannin's words. '_How much do they know?_' She asked herself, her mind racing a mile a minute as she tried to figure out exactly what Orochimaru's game was, vaguely recalling what he'd said about his subordinates. He wanted the Sharingan, that much she was sure of… if he wanted the eyes he could have just killed them all and taken them, or taken Sasuke back when they fought him? Not like they could have done much to stop him. As much as they'd improved since their adventure in Wave, they were no match for a Kage level ninja.

So he wanted Sasuke to come to him willingly then? And were these guys supposed to test him or something? Didn't he already have enough of that when they fought? Did it have something to do with the seal?

"What do you clowns want with Sasuke?"

"Oh? The little girl has quite the mouth on her." The apparent leader commented, looking at her in his odd, hunched over posture, his head tilted to the side.

"Just answer the question!" Sakura snarled at the trio.

"Heh, she thinks she's in a position to make demands." The spiky haired one said with a cruel grin, giving her a look you might find on someone about to tear the wings off a fly for their own amusement. "Why should you care, anyway? After all, it's not like you're going to walk away from this alive."

Sakura refused to be intimidated by that statement, months of being exposed to Zabuza's killing intent having hardened her to threats. Quickly, she decided that if they planned to kill her either way, there was no point in holding back information. "Just what the hell is Orochimaru planning?" She yelled, startling the three genin. "I know he's the one who sent you, he told us you'd be here. Why'd he send you to attack us after he already thrashed us? And what's that mark he put on Sasuke!?"

The bandaged genin's eyes narrowed in consideration as he regarded her warily. "Hmm… what's that man thinking?" He wondered aloud.

Sakura was slightly taken aback by that. So, they didn't know anything? While she couldn't begin to figure out Orochimaru's intentions, she knew enough to know that, if he hadn't told them anything, it was likely because they weren't important enough. She doubted he cared at all if they lived or died. After all, she couldn't see him softening them up for them, and if you were going to send someone on a mission, you'd tell them everything you knew about it, unless you didn't care if they succeeded or failed. She doubted they were anything more than pawns. Whatever it was, it probably all went back to that seal.

That seemed right up his alley, using people as pawns with no concern for their lives. He'd probably throw them away once they weren't useful to him anymore. She almost felt sorry for them. Almost. If only they weren't complete jerks that were planning to kill her.

"Enough talk." The spiky haired boy stated, rising to his feet. "If you know who our boss is, we definitely can't let you get away. Let's finish this."

"I agree, there's no sense putting it off any longer." The mummy like genin said.

Sakura took a deep breath, remembering what she'd been told about fighting superior numbers. Hit fast and hard without holding back. Take your enemies out quickly and decisively. Then, her mouth widened into a smirk. With a swipe of her kunai, she cut a wire behind her, alerting the three enemy shinobi to a new threat.

A moment later, kunai burst from the canopies on both sides of the clearing, flying through the air to skewer the sound genin.

The trio of sound shinobi jumped forward away from the advancing hail of kunai, moving toward where Sakura and Sasuke hid, just as a groaning sound was heard from above.

Looking up, the trio saw a massive tree trunk, held up by a wire and speeding through the air towards them, the hail of kunai still going on behind them, cutting off their escape.

"Damn, she got us!" The bandaged genin cried out in panic… before his façade of terror dropped and he returned to his normal state of calm. "Not."

He placed his right palm on the trunk and made a single one handed seal. In an instant, the hunk of wood shattered, sending splinters through the air as its two halves continued along their paths and the kunai came to a stop.

They would have made some remark about how poorly constructed that plan was… were it not for the fact that, among the splinters of wood they spied several paper bombs, causing their eyes to widen as Sakura's smirk grew.

"Shit!" Their leader yelled as the tags began to burn. He only had time to brace himself before they detonated, erupting into a balls of light and heat that sent the trio flying backwards, slight singed and covered in slight cuts as the roar of the blasts echoed through the area before they hit the ground in heaps, all three kicking up smaller clouds of dirt as they skidded to a stop.

With a slight groan, the bandaged genin placed one hand on the ground and rose up. He was lucky he'd destroyed that the way he had, or else the tags might have been closer. He was a little surprised, he hadn't thought that the tree huggers capable of such a tactic.

He was broken from his thoughts as he hearing, the most acute of all the sound genin of his generation, alerted him to an extremely faint sound, heavily muffled, but not enough so for his honed sense to miss. He recognized it without even needing to try to locate its source, having encountered jutsu similar to the one the girl was no doubt using before.

"It was a distraction, she's underground!" He yelled before planting his feet on the ground, channeling as much chakra into his legs as he could before kicking off.

As his teammates began to do the same, they found it was too late. A dainty hand burst from the ground and grabbed the Oto kunoichi by the ankle, even as her teammate escaped. What happened next was a blur for the brunette. One moment, she was being pulled down and the next, she was buried up to her neck in the ground, Sakura looking down at her in triumph. All she could do was glare before struggling in vain to get free.

Sakura turned her eyes to her remaining enemies. Reaching into her pouch and pulling out another group of senbon as she ran towards her adversaries, crossing her arms over her chest before throwing the poisoned needles at the two remaining Oto genin.

"Tch, don't get cocky, you stupid bitch!" The spiky haired boy snarled before raising his hands, revealing holes in the core of his palms. "Slicing Sound Waves!"

Twin supersonic blasts of air burst from his hands, flying towards Sakura and blowing away her senbon. The girl quickly ran through a series of hand signs before the attack struck her, only for her to vanish a moment later, a log appearing in her place.

Sensing danger behind him, the Oto genin turned to see Sakura on the branch of a tree above him, letting loose another volley of senbon. He immediately turned and pointed his left hand at her, releasing another wave of cutting wind at her.

Sakura immediately bolted from her perch, launching herself away towards a vacant portion of the battlefield a mere moment before the cutting air current tore through the branch.

Landing in a crouch, Sakura's eyes widened as, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bandaged genin speeding towards her, his gauntlet clad fist cocked back and ready to punch at her.

Knowing the danger that odd gauntlet presented, she quickly dove back into the ground, vanishing from sight, allowing the attack to pass harmlessly through the space she'd just occupied.

The bandaged genin jumped away as Sakura burst from the ground behind him, reaching to grab the straw on the back of his coat. He spun in midair, turning to face her.

"Well, you're certainly good at running away. Is this all you can do, sneak around and take potshots at us?" He mocked her as he landed.

"You're one to talk when all you can do is hide behind that gauntlet of yours!" Sakura shot back. "Every time you swing your arm that thing vibrates, producing sound waves you manipulate with your chakra, attacking your targets inner ear and throwing off their equilibrium. From there, it's child's play to take them out. That's how you attacked Kabuto and got out of Sasuke's grip back when Naruto used your face to mop up the floor." She smirked again as his sole visible eye widened in shock. "Lucky for me, since your sound waves can't pierce the ground and I doubt they'd remain effective at a range, as long as I keep my distance or dive back underground, I'm safe."

'_She figured it out after only seeing two attacks!?_' He quickly schooled his features, a dismissive look in his visible eye. "So you figured out the secret of my melody arm. Good eye. Give the girl a medal." '_She's actually pretty clever… this should be fun._'

"A medal? No thanks, but I think that after I wipe the floor with your asses I'll take your scroll and drag your asses to the tower for a nice stay in the I/T department. I'm sure they'd just love to get their hands on some of Orochimaru's lackeys." Sakura said. Their group training and her improved confidence had the side effect of causing her 'inner' personality to bleed over a lot more often than it used to. "Shouldn't be too hard, since all you can do is hide behind that gauntlet of yours and your friend had to mutilate himself with those little wind holes just to become an _average_ ninja, CHA!"

"Shut the hell up!" The spiky haired genin roared, pointing both his hands at her. "You've got no idea what you're talking about! We're the shinobi of the future, you're just an out of date piece of trash!" He unleashed another wave of wind at her, which she ducked under ground to dodge, mindful of the bandaged genin.

The now named Zaku grunted in response before slamming his right hand to the ground, sending a ripple through the earth to Kin, the ground popping up into a dome around her, seeming to rattle her a bit before she pulled her arms out of the loosened soil.

"It's obvious now we've been underestimating her. Let's just take her out so we can deal with Sasuke like our master ordered. No more games. Kin, you know what to do." The sound kunoichi nodded and drew out her own senbon.

Zaku scoffed. "I can't believe we've wasted this much effort on such a small fry."

Sakura burst from the ground, rising halfway out of the earth before making a hand sign and slamming her palms into the ground. "Earth Style: Rock Shuriken!"

A wave of small stones, despite the name, shaped more like daggers than the metal stars, erupted from the earth and flew towards the three sound genin, who leapt above it. Sakura pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag and threw it at them, causing them to scatter to avoid the resulting explosion.

Quickly noting the easiest target, she rose from the ground and ran towards Kin as she landed. She immediately made to throw her senbon at her, before the brunette's eyes widened, her sense of balance thrown off as her sight grew distorted. Where a moment ago everything was clear, she could suddenly swear that there were two of the pink haired girl rushing towards her, zigzagging back and forth. Her hands and forearms were suddenly feeling numb and her body was slow to respond, refusing to do what her brain commanded it to, and she was beginning to feel oddly lightheaded. '_What the hell!? My body… why am I…?' _Her eyes widened, her expression showing mild panic as she realized what must have happened._ 'Don't tell me…!_'

Sakura threw an uppercut and Kin who ducked to evade the blow… only to find she didn't go low enough when the attack collided with her chin, sending her reeling back. She stumbled back as Sakura charged as much chakra as she could into her arm as she pulled her fist back.

With a battle cry, Sakura threw her fist at Kin, the brunette barely able to offer any defense before the attack plowed into her solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to cough up blood, before driving her into the ground, the force of the blow driving her into the soil slightly and sending cracks a few feet around her. She quickly lost consciousness.

"What the hell?" Zaku questioned while Dosu's eye narrowed, having seen Kin's sluggish actions and the sudden shift in the way she held herself. The way her eyes couldn't seem to fix on her opponent. And a blow like that shouldn't have taken her out… unless her constitution had already been weakened. It only took him a moment to deduce what must have happened.

"She must have poisoned her when she dragged her underground. Zaku, don't let her hit you. A single blow and you'll be easy prey." The bandaged genin advised. With a growl of annoyance, Zaku nodded as Sakura reached into her pouch, pulling out a kunai as she closed the distance between them.

Meanwhile, unnoticed by Sakura and the two remaining Oto genin, three pairs of eyes gazed into the clearing, watching the battle unfold. Team 10 watched as the Konoha kunoichi did her best to take on an entire team, but she was quickly loosing momentum. Now that the enemy knew she was a threat and were taking her more seriously, they regrouped and pressed the attack, leaving her on the defensive.

"Damn." Shikamaru growled out under his breath. "Am I hearing things, or did she say Orochimaru? What the hell have those guys gotten themselves into?"

"And where's Naruto? I don't see him under the tree." Choji noted. "You don't think…"

Shikamaru shook his head, his brow furrowed and a bead of sweat rolling down his face as his mind raced to try to understand just what they'd stumbled upon and how the already troublesome Chunin Exams had gone so far into the left field. "Not a chance. Sakura wouldn't act that way if something had happened to him… but where is he? She could use all the help she could get right now." The lazy genin turned his eyes to the blond kunoichi at his side. "Hey, Ino. What do you want to do?" She turned her bewildered gaze to him. "You two were friends, right?"

Turning back to the battle before her, Ino could hardly believe how much Sakura had grown since they graduated. She remembered the shy little girl, crying after being teased for the umpteenth time, she was when they first met. When they learned they both had a crush on the same boy (along with over half the girls in the class), they swore to each other that they wouldn't lose, in love or anything else, to the other.

But… could she really say that she'd done everything she was capable of? Could she hold the three of them off as long as Sakura had if she was on her own? When had she fallen so far behind?

Sakura leapt into the air to dodge another blast of wind from Zaku, flipping in the air and pulling out four kunai as she did so, before throwing them at the mummy-like leader of the trio, keeping them far enough apart that he couldn't simply deflect them with his metal gauntlet.

The sound genin bolted to the side before leaping at the pink haired kunoichi before his honed ears registered the faint sound of string being cut. Craning his neck and looking back with his sole visible eye, he just barely saw the faint remnants of a wire hanging limply in the air, now severed in two by one of the kunai.

Gritting his teeth beneath his bandages, he turned his eyes back to Sakura, who smirked. Well over a dozen kunai rained down on him from above. Hearing the sounds of the small daggers cutting through the air, he spun around to face them, raising his gauntlet to block the one flying towards his chest only for his expression to shift into a mask of shock as it pinged off the steel of his melody arm and his eyes beheld a small bag attached to the ring.

As one, purple, poisonous clouds of smoke burst from the kunai, filling up half the clearing as Sakura landed. Having the antidote in her system, the toxic vapor was harmless to her, and she immediately shot towards it, intent on attacking her adversaries and forcing them to breath in the fumes if they hadn't already.

Her heart was pounding and could hardly believe it. She was so close. So very close to coming through for her teammates when it came down to her. If she could just end it here, she'll not only have saved their skins, she will have at last proven, to herself as much as them, that she wasn't going to hold them back as she had in the past. She had become someone they could truly depend on, not just for emotional support, but as a teammate.

Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. As she neared, Zaku bellowed from within the cloud. "Supersonic Slicing Wave!" And a truly enormous wave of compressed air was released, blowing away the cloud of poison and forcing Sakura to bring her arm up to shield her face from the debris. She could feel the slight sting as small pebbles and chunks of earth battered against her arm. She could hardly believe the scale of the attack, relative to the size of those air holes. It wasn't even directed at her and yet she was still being pushed back! Her feet left grooves in the ground as she struggled to remain on her feet.

The bandaged leader of the sound genin, still being in the air, was flung away like so much dust in the massive wind storm. He managed to right himself enough to land on his feet against the trunk of one of the trees surrounding the clearing.

His path vision now clear, Zaku took a deep breath of clean air, having held his breath while in the cloud, as he turned towards the Konoha kunoichi, pointing his palms toward her. "I'm gonna blow you away!"

Before she could move to dodge, another wave of air slammed into her. All she could do was raise her arms to shield herself as air current, powerful enough to shatter stone, pushed her through the air and into a tree, shattering the bark and leaving an indentation in the wood as she yet out a yelp of pain and coughed up blood before falling to the ground and landing somewhat shakily in a crouch.

Her senses warning her of danger, she turned just in time to see the bandaged genin approaching her and dove underground again, thanking her lucky stars that the technique was pure chakra manipulation, something she excelled at, and had no hand signs that would have taken up her time.

However, she heard him land and then footsteps quickly pass over her and continue onward, towards… Sasuke!

Her eyes snapped wide open as she quickly moved through the ground as quickly as she could and burst from the earth between him and her teammate, blocking a sweeping blow with her arm. She winced as her limb came into contact with the gauntlet and braced herself for what she knew was coming.

And there it was. Suddenly, she stumbled, unable to keep her balance. The world was twisted and spinning. She could barely see the genin in front of her before he whipped around and lashed out with a kick to her solar plexus, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Heh. Nice one, Dosu." Zaku commented as he looked at the downed girl, who struggled against the nausea and lack of equilibrium to rise. With a chuckle, he continued, "Well, you put up a pretty good fight, but it looks like this game is over."

"It's a pity you put so much value in your teammates lives." Dosu chided. "You could have easily made it out of this if you'd simply abandoned your precious Sasuke. It's what we'd do if any of us fell behind." She managed to glare up at him, feeling nothing but contempt for the trio if that's how they felt about their comrades. "Then again, if it was truly Lord Orochimaru put him in this state, I can hardly blame him for winding up in this condition. Really, what _is_ his plan?" He closed his eye, contemplating this for a moment. That mark the girl mentioned earlier… the only thing he could think of that would fit, given the caster and the Uchiha's condition would be one of the Snake Sannin's Curse Marks. But why would he send them after someone he gave one of those? There was only one possibility he could think of, and it wasn't one he wanted to consider. Finally, he took a step forward. If he _was_ right, they needed to end this. _Now_. "Well, I guess it's time we close the curtain on this farce, wouldn't you agree?"

None of the inhabitants of the clearing noticed as steam began to leak from the mark on Sasuke's neck. The Uchiha heir unconsciously grit his teeth, shivering as a new wave of pain washed over his form. However, he was aware of none of this as deep within his mind, his consciousness was trapped in a dream, confronted by his worst memories.

* * *

><p>Sasuke turned his head from side to side, trying to figure out where exactly he was. He was, somehow, standing in an endless, white void. He knew it must be a dream, but… this was unlike any dream or nightmare he'd ever found himself in. He heard a sound… sobbing? Somehow, it sounded… familiar. He looked across from him and there stood a crying little boy. '<em>Who? <em>His brow furrowed as he realized who it was that stood before him. '_That's… me?_'

"Mother… and father… Why? They didn't have to die." He sobbed out, rubbing the tears streaming from his eyes and suddenly, the Uchiha heir found himself back in that room… that night… the moonlit night where he found his parents lying in a pool of their collective blood, his younger self standing where his older brother had when he callously announced that he'd killed them, just to test the limits of his abilities. "I couldn't save them. The entire clan was slaughtered… he killed everyone."

"No… you." His younger self stated, causing shock to cover his features as the child before him said the words that had been whispered in the back of his mind since that night. "You let them die… all you could do was watch." He said, his expression twisting into a grin reeking of malevolent intent as his voice shifted, mixing together with the voice of the Sannin who'd sent him here. He reached up to his right eye, digging his nails unto his lower lid and peeling away his skin, revealing Orochimaru's amber orb and chalk white skin. "If only you had more power."

* * *

><p>Looking from the fallen girl to the still sleeping Uchiha, Dosu turned to his teammate. "Zaku. Since it doesn't look like Sasuke will be getting up any time soon, just finish him off now. I'll take care of the girl."<p>

Sakura's eyes widened at those words as Zaku scoffed. "Che, that's no fun. I was hoping he would at least put up a fight."

'_No!_' Sakura thought as she tried to fight off the effects of Dosu's sound waves. With a growl, she rose to her feet. "Like hell!"

She threw four kunai at the sound genin, but Zaku raised his hands with a grin and fired a wave of wind at the approaching weapons while Dosu simply knocked those aimed at him aside with his gauntlet, The wall of cutting air sent the kunai back to their sender, and Sakura leapt into the air to evade before reaching into her pouch and pulling out four more, this time with explosive tags.

Sakura threw the weapons at the genin, making a hand sign to detonate them as they approached and before Zaku could deflect them, forcing them to jump back to dodge as the weapons exploded, but they weren't fast enough and were propelled through the air, slamming on the ground as Sakura landed, stumbling and falling to her hands and knees.

'_It doesn't hurt._' She told herself as she rose to her feet. '_I'm not scared. I won't lose!_' She controlled her chakra as best as she could as she shot forward towards Dosu's distorted form as he got up. She couldn't muster enough control to dive underground or the speed to use Body Flicker or Substitution, and they'd deflect her only offensive jutsu. That left only one avenue of attack, her fists. '_I won't let Sasuke down the first time he needs me! I'm not going to let us die here like this!_'

She closed the distance between them, charging as much chakra as she could with as much control as she could muster with the damage to her inner ear, as Dosu rose to his feet.

The sound genin threw a punch at her, which she blocked, but that alone caused damage as the melody arm reverberated from the impact, all of its sound waves directed to her ear. She screwed her eye shut and clenched her teeth as her ear began to bleed under the assault, but she'd already begun throwing her fist at him. The sound attack caused her to release the chakra in her arm. Fortunately, that had the same effect as if she'd released it voluntarily and with a cry of effort, the attack slammed into him.

Dosu blocked with his uncovered forearm, and it felt like it nearly snapped in two! His face became a mask of shock and pain as his arm was driven back into his body before he was sent flying clear across the clearing and into the root of a tree, shattering the sending splinters through the air.

Sakura could hardly even see her accomplishment her vision was so distorted, and even if she had, she wouldn't have had anytime to enjoy it as a wave of wind immediately slammed into her, driving her through the ground and leaving her at the end of a long trench, her body racked with pain. Between the damage from the last attack and that to her inner ear, she could hardly even see what was around her, let along move. She struggled, but she couldn't even raise herself up on her arms.

Dosu, having fallen down after slipping from the tree, rose up with a grunt and gripped his now throbbing, definitely fractured arm, the bandages around his mouth carrying a slight, red tinge from the blood he'd coughed up.

"Geez, that was weak. You rely way too much on that arm of yours, Dosu." Zaku taunted.

Not bothering to remind Zaku that that was the pot calling the kettle black, Dosu glared down at Sakura's prone form. "Enough. Zaku, finish her."

"Whatever you say." Zaku replied as he leveled both his palms at her. Sakura couldn't even see this but nevertheless closed her eyes and braced herself, readying herself for death.

Then, she heard the sound of someone appearing between them in a burst of motion. Sakura looked up but couldn't quite make out who had saved her.

"I won't lose to you, Sakura." She heard a familiar voice say. "I already told you that."

"Ino…" Sakura said as she recognized the voice, relief flooding her system.

"Just sit there and try to put your head on straight. We can handle the rest." Ino said, briefly turning to look at her out of the corner of her eye before returning to her enemies. "I can't just stand back and let you show off in front of Sasuke, after all."

"Heh, more insects rising up to get crushed." Zaku scoffed, smirking at the trio while Dosu glared. He remembered, before the first exam, these three hadn't noticed them when they moved to attack that four eyed idiot who mocked their village. Under normal circumstances, he was sure they'd crush them… but they were down one kunoichi and his forearm was fractured. While still confident, he was wary.

"Big words considering how Sakura here softened you guys up." Shikamaru commented, his own expression confident.

"Sorry to drag you guys into this." Ino said.

"Don't worry about it. We couldn't just stand by and let them get killed, right?" Choji said. Normally, he would be cowering, but Shikamaru was right, one enemy was down and the other had a fractured arm and with the way Sakura had set up the battlefield, this shouldn't be any trouble with the Nara's brain on their side.

"Yeah, now let's show them Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho trio." Shikamaru said.

"Right." Both his teammates answered.

"Che, what're a dumb blond, a pineapple headed punk and a fatass going to do?"

_That_ got Choji's attention. With a jerk, his expression hardened and his hands clenched at his sides. With a voice completely devoid of emotion, Choji asked, "What did you just say? I didn't quite catch that."

"Huh?" Zaku responded while Shikamaru turned his eyes to Choji.

'_That word is taboo around Choji. If he says it one more time…'_ The Nara thought.

"I said, what do you think you can do, fatass?" Zaku stated.

With a growl, Choji's features twisted into a look of pure, unbridled rage as a fire lit in his eyes. Raising his clenched fist before his chest, he cried, "I'm not a fatass! I'm just a big boned, damn it! That's it, we're going to wipe the floor with you Oto bastards, you hear me!?" With that, he charged, running through hand signs. "Cubbies rule!"

"Do your thing, Choji!" Shikamaru called as the Akimichi completed his jutsu.

"Expansion Jutsu!" With a plume of smoke and chakra, Choji's midsection expanded until his body was basically one huge sphere with stubby arms and legs and his head just barely sticking out. Like a threatened turtle hiding within its shell, his arms, legs, and head sunk into his body, hiding them away from the world, before he began to spin so quickly that he appeared to be a large, green ball. "Human Boulder!"

And with that, he shot at the spiky haired Oto genin, carving a trench into the ground as he barreled towards him. Zaku just gave a cocky smirk as he began to raise his palms to counter the attack. "What a pathetic jutsu. It's just a rolling fat-" With a grunt of shock and effort, his entire body locked up. "Wha-what!?" He shifted into an odd, hunched over stance with his hands forming a sign he didn't recognize. "Why can't I move!?"

At that moment, Shikamaru, in the same stance as Zaku was smirking. '_Hm. Too easy. After what Sakura did to these guys and the way she set up the battlefield, this is child's play even for us._'

"No!" Zaku cried as the enlarged shinobi was nearly upon him. Dosu kicked off the ground towards him, seeing something was wrong, but knew he wouldn't make it in time. With a cry of agony, he was hit head on and crushed by the Akimichi heir, vanishing under his bulk and left in a crumpled heap in the path of destruction he left, dead ton the world with blood leaking out of his mouth.

"Zaku!" Dosu cried in shock as he came to a stop. "Damn it!" The bandaged covered genin snarled as the Akimichi came around. He moved to intercept his next attack when the 'big boned' genin rolled to a stop and reverted to his normal size, swaying on his feet with swirls where his eyes should be.

"Uh… Everything's… spinning…"

Dosu's eye narrowed as he examined Choji for half a second before deciding he wasn't a threat before turning back to the remaining genin before he stopped, seeing Shikamaru was still smirking with his hands set in a sign that the remaining Oto genin didn't recognize, guessing it was whatever jutsu had left Zaku helpless. He jumped to the side and away from the Nara. '_What is it? Some kind of paralysis jutsu!?_'

As he skidded to a stop, he noted nothing was happening. His brow furrowed as he scanned his adversary before he noticed something off. The boy's shadow was stretched, vanishing into a hole.

He took on a look of realization as he understood what must have happened… but it was too late. He suddenly found his own body frozen the same way Zaku's had been. "What the-?"

"Shadow Possession Jutsu, success." Shikamaru smirked, shifting his stance and raising his hands above his head, pointing his hands towards his head. Much to his surprise, Dosu was forced to imitate this motion.

"Shadow Possession… I knew it. This jutsu of yours takes control of your enemy by linking your shadows together… and… you connected our shadows without me noticing…" With a grin, Shikamaru turned his head, allowing Dosu to make the same motion so that he could see Shikamaru's shadow coming out a hole in the ground behind him. "… by sending your shadow through the holes the girl made fighting us."

"Exactly right. You're pretty sharp, too bad it didn't do you any good." Shikamaru turned his gaze to Ino. "Hey Ino, do you mind? I won't be able to hold him for long."

"Sure thing, I'll take care of it." Ino replied, making the sign for her clan's jutsu. "Take care of my body for me, ok?"

"Right."

She raised her hands, looking through the space between her palms to look at the bandaged genin. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

With that, she fell over, her body caught by Shikamaru while Dosu's eye widened as everything went black to him. The Nara released the technique and Dosu stood up. "Hm, now all that's left is to tie these guys up."

"Wow… it was over so fast…" Sakura said in surprised near whisper from her place on the ground, recognizing the jutsu and knowing that Ino was now in control of Dosu's body.

In short order, the three Oto genin were tied up and the two males given a dose of Sakura's poison just to be on the safe side. They had an earth scroll, just what Team 10 needed, and since Sakura already had an earth scroll, she let them keep it. Ino and Choji would have cheered were it not for the situation.

"Glad that's over." Shikamaru commented before turning to the recovering Sakura, who was now able to stand on her own two feet. "So, you guys seriously ran into Orochimaru? _The _Orochimaru of the Sannin?"

Sakura grimaced, her gaze falling to the ground. "You heard that, huh?" She looked up, her expression troubled. "Yeah… lucky for us, he was just testing us, if you call that lucky. He knocked out Sasuke and had one of his snakes eat Naruto…" She half lied.

All the members of Team 10's eyes bugged out at that. "WHAT!?"

"He said he wanted to see how far we could go in the exam, and since we need Naruto to pass I'm sure he's fine! I think he just wanted him out of the way." Her expression became pained again. "At least… I hope. I wanted to go looking for him… but I couldn't leave Sasuke the way he is."

"Damn… Orochimaru. And we've got no idea where Naruto is... This is beyond a drag." Shikamaru said, rubbing the back of his head as his brow furrowed. This was way more than he bargained for when he let Ino for- _convince_ him to go along with these troublesome exams. Why'd they have to get mixed up in something like this? Finally, he shrugged. First an A-rank mission and now this. Things seemed to blow up around these three, and he didn't want to be there when more _excitement_ happened to find them. "Well, good luck. Now that we've got both scrolls, we can make it out of this troublesome forest. I'm sure once Sasuke wakes up you'll…"

"How can you say that!? What are you thinking?! We can't just leave them like this!" Ino cried as she whirled on him, hands balled into fists.

Shikamaru shrugged. "What? We helped them out, didn't we? And we got the scroll we needed to show for it. I say we get out of this forest before something else happens."

"What if someone else finds them?!"

"Sakura was doing just find on her own until those three showed up, and they weren't normal. I'm sure she'll be able to handle it."

With a growl, Ino grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him closer to her, staring angrily into his eyes. "We are _not _leaving Sakura here to look for Naruto, take care of Sasuke and hope some other team doesn't find them! We're helping them, so deal with it!" She turned to the pink haired kunoichi. "Don't worry, forehead, we've got your back." Seeing Sakura's surprised look, she smirked. "Oh, come on. You don't think I'd let you take all the credit for watching Sasuke, not to mention let you keep an eye on these three-" she gestured to the unconscious ninjas, "-on top of everything else, do you?"

Shikamaru gave her a slightly annoyed look. "How'd I know you were going to say that? Fine, it's too troublesome to argue when you get like this." With a sigh, he continued, knowing there would be no way to dissuade his blonde teammate. "I'd rather not spread ourselves thin, but let's split into groups so we can look for Naruto while we watch over…"

Shikamaru was interrupted when Sakura noticed movement behind him. Sasuke was rising to his feet, partially cloaked in a fading cloud of steam issuing from the seal on his neck. "Sasuke!" She cried, drawing all their attention to him. Unnoticed by Sakura and the two males in the group, Ino's eyes widened when she felt his chakra, taking an involuntary step back as she sensed it. "You're awake!" Sakura said as she moved towards him, only to stop, her face taking on a surprised and bewildered look as he came out into the open.

The mark on his neck had spread, covering his left arm and a quarter of his face. But perhaps more alarming was the look in his eyes.

Those coal eyes were like two chips of black ice, colder than she'd ever seen them before and seemed to radiate murderous intent. There was a malice hidden within their depths that had never been there before… a darkness that reminded her of the cruelty and sadistic glee in Orochimaru's amber orbs.

However, that malevolent fire in his eyes died down, replaced with a look of… almost concern, when they fell on his pink haired teammate, his gaze quickly scanning over her, taking note of all her injuries, "Sakura… what happened?" He asked before his gaze filled with rage. Were it not for the situation, Sakura would have felt elated he was angry for her. "Who did this to you?"

Sakura took a step forward, shaking off the shock she was feeling and clasping her hands before her chest as she replied, "It's nothing, Sasuke, I'm fine now, really." She stepped aside and looking to the captured sound genin. "It was those three but see, Ino and her team helped me out and we took care of them." She turned back to him, giving him a concerned look as he eyed her, noting the blood leaking out of her ear before looking at Team 10, Choji flinching under his gaze.

"They helped you?" He asked and she nodded. "You're sure you're all right?"

She nodded again. "Please don't worry about me, Sasuke, look at yourself! You're…"

"I know." He cut her off before looking down at his hand, examining the markings covering his skin. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine. In fact I've never felt better. I can feel this overwhelming power coursing through my body… this power he gave me. It helped me understand." He closed his eyes. "I'm an avenger." '_No matter what the cost, even if I have to make a deal with the devil, my path demands that I gain power._'

Sasuke opened his eyes, his Sharingan blazing. "You took care of yourself well, Sakura." His eyes landed on the unconscious sound genin. "Hn, I was hoping to test this power out on these punks for hurting you, but you already took care of them." He chuckled slightly. "No matter, they probably weren't strong enough to give me a challenge now anyway." A grin, one dripping with malicious glee, spread across his features. "I have to find someone stronger. I have to test the limits… of my ability."

'_Wha- what is this? What's wrong with him?_' Ino asked herself, more than a little intimidated by Sasuke's change in demeanor. '_He never acted like this before! And his chakra… it's so dark… and twisted…_'

'_This… this isn't Sasuke._' Sakura thought as she watched Sasuke begin to walk to the edge of the clearing. "Wait!" She suddenly rushed over to him. "Where are you going? What about Naruto?!"

"What about him?" Sasuke asked coldly, craning his neck to look at her out of the corner of his eye, making the other genin flinch.

"W- what are you saying?! We've got no idea where he is or if he's ok! We've got to find him and-"

"Why bother?" Sasuke cut her off again before turning away again, every fiber of his being calling out to find an opponent, any powerful opponent, and crush them like an insect beneath his foot. "If he can find his own way back, then good for him. If not…"

"Sasuke!" Suddenly, his eyes widened and Sakura's arms wrapped around him. Resting her forehead against the back of Sasuke's head as she sobbed quietly. "Please, snap out of it! This isn't you! How could you even suggest something like that! Listen to what you're saying!"

While Sakura's warm embrace did a lot to combat the darkness that had taken root in the Uchiha heir's mind, it alone wasn't enough. He was about to shrug her off as the rage and bloodlust the Curse Mark flooded his mind with demanded when her words cut through to him and his breath hitched.

'_To test the limits…_' He heard himself begin as the moment replayed itself in his mind.

The next instant, the world fell away and he found himself in the past. A place he had frequented in his nightmares. He stood within a room in his families mansion. The moonlight filtering in through the nearby window as he stared, his eyes wide with terror and anguish at the sight before him.

Stopping just inches from his feet was a pool of blood that had spread from the center of the room, where the bodies of he parents lied, unmoving. So much of the crimson liquid stained the wooden floor that it was clear even to their young son that there was no chance they were still alive. And standing over the bodies of the once proud head of the Uchiha, until that day one of the largest and most powerful clans in the nations and his wife; a powerful and renowned kunoichi in her own right, was their murderer, coldly peering down at the young Uchiha with no hint of emotion, his sword gleaming in the light. A young man who had once been the pride of the clan. Someone whose example he'd measured himself against...

His older brother.

Horror seized Sasuke's mind in a cold grip as his brother finished his sentence. '_… of my ability._'

'_No!_' He thought furiously as he gripped his skull, bending over as he rebelled against the dark influence enveloping his being, fighting through the feeling of fire coursing through his veins as every nerve ending in his body lit up in indescribable pain. '_I'm _nothing_ like him!_' He could feel the seal's power, like icy claws digging into his skull as it fought back, slowly loosening as he refused to give in. '_Get out!_'

And suddenly, the black markings glowed crimson before they receded, shifting back into the three tomoe mark on his neck as his eyes returned to their normal obsidian color.

With a groan of pain as his head, Sasuke's limbs fell limply to his sides before he fell forward, but Sakura caught him and held him up. "S- Sakura…"

Ino chewed on her lip in concern as she watched the scene, a bit worried about how far her rival may have come in gaining the affections of their love interest, and also over the Uchiha's actions. That wasn't the Sasuke she knew, and what was that twisted chakra?

After a moment, she gathered her thoughts together and stepped forward. "Hey, forehead! You've been keeping something from us, haven't you?!" She said, drawing their attention.

"I'm guessing that mark was having some effect on his mind, right? Even at his worst, Sasuke was never that big of a jerk." He half expected Ino to berate him for saying that, but she was too concerned to comment on it. "It's a keepsake from Orochimaru, am I right?" Seeing Sakura cringe slightly and Sasuke's eye narrow, though not at him, gave him his answer. He sighed, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck as he closed his eyes. '_This gets more and more troublesome by the second…_'

Seeing their reaction, Ino put her hands on her hips as he brow furrowed, "Look, if we're going to help, you've got to be straight with us. So tell us everything, starting with that seal."

* * *

><p>Naruto looked up at the sky, letting out a growl of frustration as he stared into its purple hue. Night was going to fall soon, and he and Kabuto were no closer to finding his teammates.<p>

They'd quickly made it to the spot that they'd encountered Orochimaru, only to find no sign of where Sasuke and Sakura had gone or what had happened. Briefly, an icy cold jolt of fear had entered his heart as he once again contemplated the possibility that he'd taken them, but he quickly shook that off, remembering the rogue Sannin's words and that he'd probably have taken him too if that was the case.

So, he came to the conclusion that it was a sign of the training they'd received that they hadn't left any traces of where they might have gone. Or at least that's what he hoped. He and Kabuto had spent a few minutes there in search of clues, Kabuto looking around in slight awe at the scars left behind by their battle, wondering how it had gone and just how well they'd fared, before Naruto created several clones and scattered them, but he'd yet to receive any memories, meaning their search had thus far been fruitless.

The two had returned to the scene of the battle, hoping to find some clue that they might have missed earlier, only to be disappointed. Realizing how difficult it would be to find particular individuals in an area as massive as this and remembering what he'd been told about other sensory abilities and how easy this would be if only he had them, he made a mental note to look into them in the future. He would have found them by now if he could sense chakra beyond seeing it with his eyes.

"Well, I'll give your friends this; they know how to cover their tracks." Kabuto commented, once more taking in the sights of the damage, his eyes wandering over the various holes in the bark and signs of explosions. They stopped as he saw a branch that looked as if it had simply been torn off.

"Damn it." Naruto growled in frustration as he grew increasingly worried. Yes, Orochimaru had said that he wanted them to progress to the next round, but he wasn't exactly known for telling the truth. He'd take anything the serpentine man said with a grain of salt. "Where're they hiding?"

"Well, it's a big forest." Kabuto pointed out idly, raising his hands in a placating gesture when Naruto rounded on him. "Hey, I'm just saying." He looked out into the trees, placing his hand above his eyes. "They could be anywhere. And if they're this good at covering their tracks, unless they got sloppy, we might miss them if we're even slightly off."

"Yeah, I know." Naruto sighed, placing his hand on his forehead. He couldn't help but worry. Along with Teuchi and Ayame, his team was like the family he never had, and he they were dealing with one of the most dangerous shinobi alive, and he freely admitted the Sharingan had been his objective. "It's just… I feel like I let them down, you know? ...I told them to go on ahead and leave me to hold him off, but they wouldn't. They stayed and fought alongside me, and I let that bastard…" He said, growling a bit at the end.

"Don't let it get you down." Kabuto said. "If whoever this guy was could take all three of you on, he must have been one tough customer. There's no telling if they would have gotten away if they'd just run. You did everything you could and you even tried to sacrifice yourself for their sakes, you can't ask for more than that. Besides, you ever think how they'd have felt about themselves if they had left you and made it out? I doubt they'd have ever forgiven themselves." Naruto seemed to contemplate that but said nothing. After a moment, Kabuto spoke up again. "It's getting late. It won't do us or your teammates any good to go stumbling into an ambush. What do you say we set up camp here?"

There was a pause as Naruto considered this. He wanted to continue the search, and light wasn't a factor to his dojutsu, but he knew it was a bad idea to keep searching all day and night without rest. "I'd rather look a while longer." After a pause, he turned to Kabuto and nodded, placing had hands behind his head as he said, "Fine. You're right, it'd probably just be a waste of time to keep looking for a few more hours when we can start fresh bright and early tomorrow. Besides, my clones can keep a lookout over night. Who knows, maybe they'll get lucky."

Kabuto smiled. "Good, I'll take first watch."

* * *

><p>Throughout the night, the two genin slept in shifts, watched over from the shadows by one of Naruto's clones while a few more continued to scour the forest. Unfortunately, it seemed that they looked in all the wrong places and found no trace of his teammates. Naruto replaced them at each of his own shifts, the young Rinnegan bearer knowing better than to let the same clones keep up their search all night and then let all their fatigue hit him at once when it came time to set out.<p>

Soon as the rays of the morning light began to shine through the canopy, Kabuto turned to Naruto, who was just walking out from beneath the trees. "So, I take it your clones had no luck."

"Really? What was your first clue?" Naruto replied with half lidded eyes, not that they could be seen with the sunglasses, before snapping, "If they'd found them, I'd have been there by now!"

"Ok, ok. I just asked a question, take it easy."

"Sorry… well, at least they narrowed things down for us." Naruto replied with a sigh before looking up. "I think they might be looking for me somewhere. They looked _everywhere_ around here, and nothing."

"Maybe after they got attacked by someone and thought moving away from the obvious site of a battle would be a good idea to avoid potential scavengers hoping to strike while they're weak." Kabuto suggested.

"Probably." Naruto replied with a grimace, remembering that Orochimaru said he'd created Otogakure, meaning those three Oto genin worked for him and may have had some hidden agenda.

He shook his head to ward off that thought. Why would he send them after his team? The snake summoner of the Sannin had already tested them. What would be the point?

And why did he just test them anyway? While he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, that was odd. He was after the Sharingan, and had the Rinnegan right before him. Why hadn't he taken them? What was so important about seeing how far they'd progress? Maybe he was just arrogant and believed he could take them anytime he wanted, though Naruto couldn't see the logic in giving them time to get stronger, even if he thought they still wouldn't be a match for him, though he admitted to himself they probably wouldn't be for at least a few years to come.

Though, that did offer some comfort. Even if he was more interested in the Sharingan, he couldn't imagine him taking Sasuke and leaving a Rinnegan bearer, so that seemed to increase the odds he'd been telling the truth about leaving them.

Deciding to get back to the matter at hand, his thoughts returned to where his team might be hiding. It was likely they'd moved if they thought staying around there might invite another attack. Good thing his clones hadn't slacked on their search area.

"Come on." Naruto said before leaping up the trees, Kabuto following almost immediately after.

As the pair of genin bounded up the trees and went to continue their search, neither noticed as an Ame shinobi wearing a yellow jumpsuit with a rebreather mask watched from the upper canopy.

* * *

><p>Hours passed as the two continued their search and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, the sun was beginning to edge towards the horizon, once more painting the sky a vivid orange that, for once, Naruto just couldn't enjoy in the slightest.<p>

Naruto was growing increasingly worried about his teammates, neither he nor his clones having seen hide nor hair of them despite searching for half the day already. Of course, it didn't help that they were searching in all the wrong places, not that he was aware of this fact. Sakura, remembering that Orochimaru had mentioned his subordinates, had moved as far away from the sight of the battle with the traitorous Sannin as with the unconscious Sasuke and neither Naruto nor his clones had gone in that exact direction, causing them to miss their hiding spot.

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise when his stomach suddenly rumbled, something Kabuto didn't miss. The purple clad genin smirked as Naruto gave a sheepish look and rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh heh, looks like it's time to feed the beast." Naruto then looked around before pointing off to the side. "There should be a river just over there. It shouldn't be too hard to rustle up some grub, unless you'd rather have a food pill." He said, the last part making it clear that's the last thing he'd want and that he had no intention of eating one if he didn't have to. Not surprising, food pills and ration bars were meant to keep you healthy and nourish the body, not appeal to the palate.

In other words, they tasted like chalk.

That aside, you weren't supposed to eat them constantly. They contained powerful stimulants that shouldn't be overused, and that was all he'd had since setting foot in the forest.

Kabuto nodded. "All right, fish it is. Lead the way."

It took only a few minutes to reach their destination. Snaking a path through the trees and beneath one of the massive above ground roots was a fairly deep, winding river, its waters crystal clear and shimmering slightly in the sunlight.

Standing on its banks, Naruto could see the silhouettes of fish deep under the water and grinned.

"'Don't shy away from using jutsu practically for mundane reasons'." Naruto quoted his sensei, chuckling slightly and rubbing his hands together as he eyed the unfortunate fish who had no idea what was in store for them. A few yards away, Kabuto was making a fire, having already gathered the wood and was now spinning a twig on one of the logs, a thin trail of smoke rising as the friction brought it closer and closer to catching fire.

Naruto clapped his hands together and made a sign to focus his chakra before slamming his palms onto the water's surface. His brow furrowed as he focused, channeling his energy into the river, fighting against the current and seizing control of the water as he ensnared several fish within his power. It took a little over a second before he'd captured the unlucky creatures and, with a sweep of his hand, sent a wave of water out onto the ground behind him.

The water was quickly soaked into the ground revealing six fish flailing helplessly on the ground, desperate for air. The Rinnegan bearer stood and grinned as he surveyed his catch before walking over to round them up.

Seven minutes later, and Naruto was enjoying a freshly caught and cooked fish on a stick. Not the best meal, but it was better than the ration bars, that was for certain.

"So, your clones have scouted most of the forest by now? I take it you were planning to use them to scout out other teams and maybe use them to help set up a trap for them?" Kabuto questioned. Naruto's eyes rose from his meal to the other genin and he nodded. "Pretty good strategy, but if that's the case, shouldn't you have both scrolls by now?"

Naruto frowned at that and, after swallowing, he replied, "Yeah, well, we did, but that snake summoning jackass took one of them, so we're short a heaven scroll."

"And those guys you took out before had an earth scroll. Tough break." Kabuto replied before his gaze roamed to the sky and his expression turned thoughtful. "Have you given any thought to what you're going to do after you find your team? You've only got three days left."

Naruto shrugged, the slight movement of his head giving the impression he was looking to the side, though it was hard to tell with his sunglasses. "In that case, I guess we'll go with plan B. We were thinking of camping out somewhere close to the tower and waiting to setting a trap for some poor suckers with both scrolls, so I guess we'll just do that."

Kabuto smirked, adjusting his glasses with his middle finger. "Heh, well, you guys hardly need my help. Good thing too, sorry to say if we don't find your team by tomorrow, I'm going to have to take off."

"No problem, you've helped me out plenty already." Naruto waved him off before taking another quick bite of his fish. After he swallowed the morsel, he asked, "Hey, you've been through these exams seven times, right? Any big difference, or are they always about the same?"

That was something he'd wanted to ask for a while, but he'd been so focused on his teammates he'd neglected to do so. While the exam was apparently always different, he might know something that could help. Having gone through it so many times, he was no doubt a wealth of knowledge on Konoha and other village's testing methods, and he planned to make sure to learn all he could.

What he really wanted to know, however, was how Kabuto learned everything he'd had on his info card. But of course, a shinobi always kept his secrets. He knew if he asked about it, he probably wouldn't get an answer, so he didn't bother. Still, maybe someday he might give him some pointers on information gathering, since he was obviously good at it, though he could always go to Jiraiya since he was the village's greatest spymaster.

"Not really." Kabuto responded with a shrug before bringing his hand up, extending his index finger towards the sky in an explanatory gesture. "Every village's exam is different, but the individual village always has similar tests. In Konoha, the first stage is always a written exam with a hidden meaning, for example, last time, the final question was a test of whether or not you were willing to sacrifice your teammates for the chance of personal advancement, kind of like an inverse of this year's test. All the teams that backed out passed and all those who chose to remain failed. The second stage is always in this forest, though the objectives are never the same. That's the tricky one. Lastly, the final stage is always something of a tournament involving several, randomly selected matches before a wide audience of visitors from other nations, including foreign ninja and VIPs like minor or feudal lords. However, it's not about whether you win or lose these fights." Seeing Naruto's confused expression, he smirked. "Oh no, as you know, while skill is needed to be a chunin, it takes more than just that. You've got to be able to lead a team, plan ahead, keep a cool head under pressure and be ready for whatever crisis lies ahead of you."

"So in other words…" Naruto picked up where he left off. "They judge you based on how well you performed, so you could win the whole shebang and still not become a chunin if you just used raw power or lose your cool too much, or everyone or no body could pass."

"Exactly. You could be the most skilled fighter there, but if you don't handle yourself like a chunin, you can forget about passing." Kabuto replied with a nod as he sat back, propping his arm up on his knee. "Also, if too many teams pass this stage of the exams, there'll be a preliminary stage as soon as the time limit's expired. It's basically the same as the finals, but there are no spectators, and there's no chance of becoming a chunin no matter how well you do."

Naruto mulled this over, crossing his arms and looking to the fire with a frown etched on his features as he thought on what it meant to be a chunin. He thought of his old sensei Iruka and of the various chunin he knew, as well as what his sensei's had told him. Being a chunin meant you would be trusted with leading a mission if a jonin wasn't present. So, it meant you'd have to be ready to hold that responsibility, to be able to think ahead and strategize, remain in control of a situation and keep cool under fire.

Seeing this, Kabuto paused before saying, "I've been meaning to ask, what's the deal with that A-rank mission?"

"Well it started with a mission to …" Naruto started as he gave an abridged version of what happened during the mission, leaving out more details than he had when he told Ino, and then inquired about the Chunin Exams of other countries in turn.

Naruto rose to his feet and turned to look out into the forest, throwing the last stick and the remnants of the fish it held to the ground as he turned, wiping his mouth off before slamming his fist into his open palm as Kabuto kicked dirt on the fire to put it out.

"Alright, time to get back on track!" Naruto said, reactivating his dojutsu before looking over his shoulder at Kabuto. "Let's move." He said before suddenly halting his movements.

Noticing this, Kabuto looked at him curiously, tilting his head to the side and arching a brow. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing, I gotta take a piss, be right back." Naruto replied as he ran off past the tree line. Kabuto's brow furrowed as he watched him run off, finding his sudden shift kind of odd before he shrugged. It wasn't entirely uncommon you'd suddenly notice you have to go, so he decided to think nothing of it.

That is, until his trained ears picked up the slight sound of rustling in the tree behind him. It was almost imperceptible, even to most shinobi's honed sense of hearing, but he caught it. His eyes to dart in the direction without shifting the rest of his body to let whoever it was know he was on to them.

Meanwhile, Naruto walked into a small, secluded area and looked around, checking his surrounding area for any signs of a threat for a few moments before he seemed satisfied. With that, he walked over to a nearby bush and began to fiddle with his pants.

As the sound of a zipper being pulled down echoed through the clearing, a figure, soon revealed to be the Ame genin from before, silently rose out of the ground, the earth yielding as if it were liquid until he stood as his full height, readying a kunai to attack.

Suddenly, his senses warned him of danger and he turned just in time to see another Naruto, the real one, leap out of the trees above him.

"What!?" He questioned in shock, not noticing the clone he'd been approaching, a shadow clone, suddenly whip around to face him, grabbing both his arms and locking them just below the shoulders, holding him in place as the real blond shot towards him.

Naruto slammed two palms into his shoulders before leaping back, revealing a pair of specialized sealing tags. The Rinnegan bearer then brought his hands together into the tiger seal.

The Ame genin's eyes widened and he let out a groan of discomfort as he suddenly felt his chakra begin to rapidly leave his body, drawn into the two tags on his body. He felt the strength leaving his extremities and soon fell to one knee. He looked up just in time to see Naruto give a slightly feral grin as he pull out a kunai and spun it around in his hand before slamming it's butt into his face, causing the weakened ninja's world to go black.

"Hmph, sucker. Thought you could pull one over on Konoha's number one prankster, huh?" Naruto said smugly. He then turned back in the direction of the clearing. "Well, that's one down." He gestured for his clone to follow him, and he did.

Arriving on a high branch looking down on the riverside area he'd left Kabuto at, he saw he frowned as he saw him fighting against… nothing, swiping a kunai at invisible enemies while holding up his guard.

Any academy student would immediately know that Kabuto had fallen under the sway of a genjutsu, most likely by the downed Ame genin's companions.

Using his dojutsu, he quickly located the chakra signatures of the two remaining enemies.

Said genin were watching as Kabuto fought against their jutsu from their perch on a low branch. To him, a small army of black clad Ame genin, made of an inky substance and able to regenerate infinitely, were attacking from all sides. The beauty of this particular technique was it was impossible to tell apart from a unique clone jutsu, so the enemy never realized they were chasing shadows until they were good and tired.

Once he was, their comrade would arrive disguised as Naruto, and then stab him in the back.

"Too easy." One of the genin commented. "We can keep this up all day. It shouldn't be long before he's completely worn out. Shouldn't be surprised, he did fail these exams the last six exams."

"Yeah, but where the hell is Oboro? How long could it take to take down someone in the middle of taking a piss? He should have been back by now."

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's just a little out of it right now." A voice said from behind them.

"Huh?" Both turned to see a kunai with an explosive tag fall out of the trees and imbed itself in the branch. Their eyes widened as the tag instantly began to burn. "Shit!"

Neither could react before the tag exploded, sending both genin flying through the air amongst chunks of bark and debris and into the clearing and breaking their illusion as Kabuto watched them fall. They bounced off of the ground before quickly skidding to a halt. One raised himself up on his elbow as Naruto landed in front of them, cracking his knuckles.

"He just ran into this super awesome ninja, and you'll be joining him in about two seconds."

* * *

><p>In short order, the Ame genin were defeated and tied up, lying face down in the clearing alongside their comrade Oboro. However, the prone teens were ignored by Naruto, who was grinning down at an object firmly clasped in his right hand.<p>

"All right!" The Rinnegan bearer cheered, tossing the scroll up into the air and catching it. "I've got a new heaven scroll! Now all I need to do is find Sakura and Sasuke, and we can get out of this god-forsaken forest!"

Kabuto nodded. "So let's get a move on. It's not a good idea to linger at the sight of a battle."

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, getting a heaven scroll proved to be the high point of the day. Another night went by and they were unsuccessful in finding Naruto's team. They got up early the next day and went back to searching, but after a few more hours of fruitless wandering through the forest, hoping in vain that one of Naruto's clones would transmit their location to him, Kabuto stopped on a branch and looked up at the sky.<p>

Noticing that he'd stopped following, Naruto landed and turned to face him.

With a sigh, Kabuto stated, "I think it's about time for me to go." He then looked back to Naruto, giving him an apologetic smile. "If I stick around any longer, I'll be late for my team meeting. Sorry I couldn't be of more help."

"Ah, don't worry about it. You've done plenty." Naruto replied, waving off his apology. It was true, as far as helping locate his teammates, he hadn't been much aid, but he'd given the blond a wealth of information on the Chunin Exams of Konoha and other villages.

"Good luck finding your teammates. I hope they're all right." And with that, Kabuto left, the blond going on his way not a moment later.

* * *

><p>The next day, Naruto sighed again as he sat at the top of the forest canopy, leaning his head back and looking at the clouds going by. He was growing increasingly worried about his friends.<p>

Then, his head suddenly shot up, his face shifting to a look of shock before lighting up with excitement. One of his clones had just dispersed, alerting the original and all the clones of its findings.

He'd found them! Finally! The clone had run into Sakura and Shikamaru travelling together, and after they gave a brief summary of how they'd teamed up, led him back to their hiding place. Apparently, they'd actually been moved to somewhere he'd looked earlier after being found by another team.

Naruto leapt down to the lower levels of the treetops before shooting off in their direction. Moving at top speed, it only took a few minutes to reach his destination. He leapt out of the leaves to find himself in a clearing, where Team 10 and his teammates waited for him. Sakura ran forward and waved to him.

"Naruto!"

"Sakura!"

As Naruto landed, he was surprised when Sakura reached him and threw her arms around him. "Don't scare us like that ever again!" She spoke, her tone conveying just how happy she was to see him safe and sound. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

While she didn't, and likely never would love him like he hoped she would, she had come to see him as something of a brother.

Naruto wrapped his arms around her, a small smile gracing his features. "I was worried about you too." She stepped back. "I kept saying to myself, 'they're fine, I'll find them eventually' but when you think about who we were up against…"

"Well, last we saw you, you'd been swallowed by a snake. How do you think we felt?" Sakura shot back with a playful expression.

"I told her you'd be alright." Sasuke spoke up with a smirk, drawing their attention to him. "No way you'd let some snake finish you off."

Naruto just gave a grunt of affirmation as his smile widened, but his expression shifted into a frown as Sakura's face showed concern. "Naruto… he did something to Sasuke."

Naruto made a surprised sound as he turned to the Uchiha avenger.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed the new chapter.<strong>

**Sorry to fans of this story, but it's third on my priorities as far as my fanfics go. My favorites are Naruto: Legends of Two Jinchuriki and my upcoming Soul Eater fic: Sinful Rose, named after the song that served as the main theme of Disgaea 2, the lyrics fit a lot of the story.**

**Next, I'll write the first 3-5 chapters of Sinful Rose then the next arc of Naruto: Legends of Two Jinchuriki, followed by the third chapter of Looking into the Abyss.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey. It's been quite a while, hasn't it. I hadn't realized until recently it had been over a year since I last updated this story. Sorry about that...**

**I've been kind of busy the last few months. Add that together with writer's block, the fact that a lot of the free time I did have was spent playing a series of videogames and a few other things and progress on my fics pretty much ground to a halt. But enough about that. I'm sure you want to get to the story, so I'll just end it here.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Silence permeated the air throughout a calm section of the Forest of Death, currently unpopulated by either the forest's natural, and in some cases unnatural, inhabitants and the young ninja hopefuls fighting both for their lives and the hope of advancement. That sense of quiet remained unbroken as six figures shot through the trees, their precise movements barely making a sound as they bolted through the branches towards the heart of the forest.<p>

Teams Seven and Ten moved as blurs as they hopped along the massive trees, Naruto and Chouji bringing up the rear of the group, the Akimichi holding a bound Zaku and Kin over his shoulders like sacks of potatoes while the blond carried the leader of the Sound Trio. He'd been sure to slap chakra restraining seals on the three sound shinobi as an added precaution on top of plugging Zaku's air holes with seal tags and removing Dosu's gauntlet, which now rested within a seal in his pouch.

As they made their way through the shadowed trees, confident that the three disguised clones Naruto had sent to scout ahead would warn them of any danger that might be lying in wait, Sakura looked worriedly at Sasuke just ahead of her near the center of the group, her mind returning to the conversation they'd had after they'd explained to Naruto what had happened after his impromptu and unwanted trip.

_(Flashback)_

_Naruto frowned, his arms crossed over his chest and his mouth pressed into a thin line as he scrutinized the mark that now rested at the base of Sasuke's neck. Ino and Sakura looked worriedly as the blond assessed the damage before finally, he stepped back and shrugged._

_"Nope, sorry. I can't make heads or tails of this thing." He said finally. While perhaps expected, it was clear from their reactions that this was not what the group had hoped to hear. While Sasuke, stoic as always, showed no reaction besides covering the seal under his high collar, Shikamaru and Sakura let out sighs, Chouji continued to munch on his potato chips(it was a stressful situation!) while Ino looked annoyed._

_"Geez. And here I thought you might actually know what you were talking about for once." The Yamanaka said, covering her face with her hand, causing the other blond to send her a glare._

_"Hey, the hell's that supposed to mean?"_

_Ino put her hands on her hips. "Exactly what it sounded like. Since you're the only one here studying this stuff, I thought you might be able to, you know, do something about this."_

_Naruto's eye twitched and he leaned towards her. "Do you have any idea how complicated sealing jutsu is?" The Jinchuriki asked. "This isn't like ninjutsu, where all you have to do is making a few hand seals and mold your chakra; it's more like an entire language where one wrong symbol or line written out of place could have disastrous consequences! Characters can flow together that don't mean anything unless you can look at the whole picture, lines that seem to have no real place can make or break any seal made. One wrong move, one symbol out of place, a single smudged line and the whole seal could blow up in your face. It's more than just learning how to draw a few symbols and squiggles. It's about creating a written language using symbols and lines of power in order to direct the flow of your chakra in order to create a very specific effect. It's a hell of a lot more complicated than weaving a few hand seals! And I just started learning it two months ago!"_

_Ino held her arms up in a placating gesture. "Ok, ok, I get it, I was asking for too much. Sorry, I'm just a little frustrated over all this. Here we are in the middle of our village, going through these already crazy exams, sure we're in this creepy forest but still our village! And we stumble on a mess left by Orochimaru of all people!" Naruto sighed at that. "But I get what you mean. It's just another reason we should get to the tower as fast as we can. I mean, we've barely got an idea of what this thing does!"_

_Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I didn't say I didn't have any idea what it was." Truthfully, he had quickly formed an idea of just what they were dealing with based on their recounting of Sasuke's awakening and Orochimaru's parting words. Although, he really didn't like the conclusions he came to._

_Sasuke turned to him and Sakura blinked. "What? But you just said..." The pink haired kunoichi began._

_"I said I couldn't read the seal just by looking at it or do anything about it. I'm nowhere near that level yet. But I've got a pretty good idea what it's supposed to do..."_

_"Well don't just keep us in suspense, tell us already!" Ino said._

_"All right, all right. But you're not going to like it any more than I do." Naruto replied. "From the sound of it, I'm guessing this is some kind of cursed seal."_

_"Cursed seal? Yeesh, that just sounds troublesome." Shikamaru spoke up with a frown._

_"Yeah that's one way to put it." Naruto crossed his arms and taking on a stern and focused air that surprised the members of Team 10. "Like I said, cursed seals are too advanced for me to even go into right now so I've only just glossed over this stuff, but Cursed Sealing is a type of sealing jutsu used to control people." Sakura, Ino and Chouji looked worried at that while Sasuke and Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Mostly, they punish the victim if they don't do what the user wants, like, making them feel like they're on fire or paralyzing them. It can be on command or automatic, depending on the seal. Some might actually reward you if you do what you're told too."_

_"Conditioning you to follow orders." Shikamaru said as Sasuke subconsciously reached for the seal. The Uchiha heir was fairly sure that Naruto had hit the nail on the head. He hadn't mentioned it to the other's because he hated to be coddled or pitied, but he'd already experienced the pain he'd described._

_While they'd been looking for Naruto, he'd happened upon a kunoichi in trouble. Unwilling to leave someone who wasn't an enemy, or at least not at the moment to certain death, and hoping she'd have a scroll, he'd quickly decided to intervene. He'd rescued her of course, but found in the process that anything beyond basic taijutsu caused the seal to try and take him over again... and it hurt like hell when he resisted its influence._

_Naruto nodded. "Exactly. And from what I heard, some can even keep you from doing certain things outright. Of course, this one's a bit different." He looked at Sasuke, his Rinnegan activating behind his glasses and focusing on the poisonous purple aura of Orochimaru's chakra that now clung to Sasuke's neck. "If I had to guess, I'd say that thing is meant to twist the user until they turn into someone Orochimaru would want as a minion." With the whole group clearly concerned by his theory, he continued, "That's probably why it made you stronger. You know what they say; everything has a price. It might give you some incredible chakra, but as long as you're using it, it turns you into a sadistic prick like him. That's the only reason I can think of he'd want to make you stronger; to tempt you to use it knowing what it'll do to you. On top of that it's probably addicting like a drug: the more you use it, the more you want to use it... until eventually the effects start to become permanent."_

_Sasuke scowled at the thought what was likely being done to him while Sakura covered her mouth and turned a worried eye towards him, feeling powerless._

_Shikamaru meanwhile stared to the ground and cupped his chin, deep in thought, a state that few ever saw the typically lazy Nara in, as his surprisingly sharp mind went over Naruto's hypothesis. He quickly deemed it likely and added to it. This wasn't the time to half ass everything, a comrade was in serious trouble. "Not only that, but if Naruto's guess is right it'll probably have some way to control him at that point too." He pointed out. "After all, people like Orochimaru aren't exactly trustworthy. If that seal makes you anything like him, he'd probably want a way to make sure that you wouldn't just turn on him some time down the road."_

_"Yeah, giving people power in exchange for their freedom. That sounds like it'd be right up his alley..." Naruto mused. After a moment of tense silence, the blond waved his hand, returning to his usual exuberant self. "But no worries. Kakashi-sensei can probably do something about it. If not, Jiraiya of the Sannin's in town. I'm sure he'll lend a hand, since it was his old teammate who made the thing."_

_Ino gasped. "What!? Master Jiraiya's here!? Now!? It's been years since he set foot in the village!"_

_Naruto put his hands behind his head and gave a wide grin. "Yep! From what I know, it should be child's play for him to deal with it, or at least suppress it even if our sensei can't." Turning to Sasuke, he added. "You'll be fine, as long as you don't use that seal."_

_"Hmph, who do you take me for?" Sasuke responded. However, what he was thinking was; 'easier said than done.' If there was any alternative, he would take it, but if they couldn't suppress its influence or he didn't develop a tolerance over time... he doubted he'd even have the option of focusing on taijutsu like Rock Lee if even the chakra needed to activate the Sharingan triggered it. He was sure he could make it through the exam, provided he didn't wind up against someone like Gaara, Rock Lee or anyone else of that level, but after that... and if he was ever going to go after Itachi..._

_Remembering the crippling pain that resisting the seal brought, he knew that if it came down to it, he'd have to choose between either trying to control this seal, or giving up his career as a shinobi along with his goal of avenging his clan._

_There was a pause before Naruto turned to the members of Team 10."Hey, by the way, what scroll do you guys have?"_

_Shikamaru raised a brow. "Why? Do you have a spare or something?"_

_"Just so happens that I do!" Naruto answered with a grin, reaching into his pouch and pulling out two Earth scrolls, to their surprise._

_"That's... no way! Did you manage to take out a team by yourself?" Ino asked._

_Naruto put one scroll away and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Two actually, but I may have had a little help on the second one. I ran into Kabuto while I was looking for you guys, remember him? He helped me out for a bit, but he had to head back to his team."_

_'Damn... did even Naruto improve that much? What are we even doing here?' Shikamaru thought to himself before sighing, "Well, we needed an Earth Scroll, but those three-" he gestured to the trio of sound ninja, "-had one on them. So if you guys have everything you need, we can get out of here." "They should just let us through with what you guys had to deal with, but I get the feeling that they're going to be sticklers about it."_

_Naruto just grinned wider in response before pulling out a Heaven Scroll. "No problems, then we're all set!"_

_Shortly thereafter, the two teams split up to gather the few things they set down in their hiding place. Once Naruto added the seals to their captives to ensure that they'd be powerless even if they woke up and with his team separated from Team 10, Naruto turned to his teammates, once more solemn expression._

_"Guys." He said, getting their attention. "There's something I didn't mention about that seal because I didn't want to worry the others." Seeing them both give him their full attention, he continued, "It's giving off Orochimaru's chakra."_

_"So, your point is?" Sasuke questioned, not impressed with the revelation. That sounded like it should be an obvious conclusion._

_"My point is that's not normal." Naruto answered. "Usually when you put a seal on someone else, it hijacks their chakra. That way not only does it have the fuel to keep going, but someone with eyes like ours or a sensor won't pick it up. Not to mention it would eventually run out of juice if it constantly burns what its maker put in it. Maybe there might be a trace of the maker's chakra, but that'd be it... but in that thing, the chakra's not just there, it's active... it's like... it's converting your chakra into Orochimaru's." That got a look of shock from both his teammates. He leveled them a glare. "I don't know what that means, but I don't like it."_

_"Tch." Sasuke scoffed in response. "How do you think I feel? I'm the one who has to live with this thing."_

_Naruto's expression shifted to a neutral one before he added. "Anyway, I figured you should know."_

_(Flashback end)_

_'Sasuke... what's Orochimaru trying to do? What does he want with you?_' Sakura had no idea what lay ahead of them, the exams or even the village with Orochimaru active. She could only hope that they could weather the storm.

* * *

><p>It turned out to be a good call to send the clones ahead of them. They'd stumbled upon a team of shinobi lying in wait to ambush some unlucky group heading to the finish line about half a kilometer away from the tower. After taking a short detour to avoid that particular obstacle, they finally reached the tower at the heart of the forest. The Sound Ninja trio hadn't woken up in that time and showed no signs of stirring yet. Unfortunately for them, they'd probably awaken to find themselves in a cell, even if it was unlikely that they knew anything important about what the snake was planning.<p>

Together, the two teams stepped through the first door they found and entered the tower. Looking around and setting the sound genin down against a pillar near the center of the entranceway, the saw nor heard any signs of another person, neither genin nor proctor, as their own footsteps echoed throughout the room. The room itself was almost completely bare, the only things that stood out being the stairs and plaque on the far wall. There was no sign of anyone to accept their scrolls or, more importantly, to inform of the events in the forest.

"Damn it. Hasn't anyone heard of a reception around here?" Ino griped as she looked around.

As she looked for any sign of where to go, Sakura's eyes briefly glazed over the plaque. Catching something familiar, her eyes honed in on the word 'heaven'. "Hey guys, look here." She called out as she quickly scanned the words, drawing their attention. "This thing says something about heaven and earth." She finished reading and frowned. "But some of the characters are missing and I can't figure out what it's trying to say." She turned around. "Either way, I think it's telling us to open the scrolls."

"Makes sense." Shikamaru mused. "And it doesn't look like we have many other options."

Unsure of what was about to unfold, Naruto handed Sakura a scroll, Sasuke stood close enough behind to get a good look while the rest stayed a few feet away. At once, Naruto and Sakura unraveled the seals to reveal two kanji, each at the heart of a circle of miniature characters in each scroll. Individually, they were incomplete but together they read...

"Person?" Sakura frowned. Meanwhile, Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized the smaller characters as a sealing formula, meant to activate the moment the scrolls were opened. Specifically...

"Sakura! These are summoning circles! Toss 'em! NOW!"

The two genin threw the scrolls across the room, smoke billowing from them as the sailed through the air causing the members of both teams tensed, prepared for whatever trial might arise as the parchment erupted. The cloud obscured whatever had been called forth by the seals, but after a moment a figure became visible as it began to dissipate.

The genin relaxed slightly, lowering whatever defensive stance they'd entered when they realized they recognized just who had come through the scroll.

"Wait, you're..." Naruto started before grinning. "Long time no see, Iruka-sensei."

"You can say that again." Iruka responded as he fully emerged from the smoke, much to the relief of the genin. "You should really stop by more often, you know?"

Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Truthfully, he felt a little guilty. But the last few months had been so crazy and he'd been so focused on training and learning about his clan that he hadn't taken the time to visit his brother figure. He'd have to be the one to treat next time they went to Ichiraku's. "Yeah, well what can I say? I've been a little busy lately."

"I can tell. So, what's been keeping you from walking five blocks down the street?" Iruka asked lightheartedly.

"Oh," Naruto shrugged ticking off events on his fingers as he began to give a striped down and streamlined account of the last few months. "Just getting beaten into the ground training to where I can barely drag myself home, chased halfway across the village by this crazy snake lady, learning about my long lost family, saving a country..." He grinned and tilted his head as he finished before adding jokingly, "You know nothing big."

Iruka arched a brow before he closed his eyes and chuckled. He had no doubt the blond was telling the truth, having heard rumors of his exploits in the Land of Waves, not to mention the verbal beatdown his sensei had gotten for not training them adequately prior to said adventure, though the encounter with Anko was a surprise. Ino, who'd heard some of that wasn't surprised but Shikamaru looked on incredulously while a bead of sweat ran down his face.

"Is he serious?" The Nara asked Ino.

"Oh yeah." She replied.

"What about the training?" he asked, turning to Sakura and Sasuke only to arch a brow at the sight before him.

While Sasuke seemed unbothered by the conversation around him, the pink haired kunoichi beside him had frozen her body shivering like she'd been caught out in the Land of Snow. Her eyes had widened to the size of saucers, irises and pupils absent from the now solid white orbs, while quiet, strangled cries left her throat as vision after horror filled vision filtered through her mind.

_(Flashback)_

_Once more, Sakura and Haku stood before the raging river deep in the forest surrounding the village, just at the edge of their field of vision the water shifted to white rapids that frothed and churned as it sped towards the falls she could hear in the distance. Rather than fear and apprehension as she had displayed earlier when faced with the prospect of swimming against the current for training, the kunoichi seemed confused at this choice._

_"Um, Haku." She began. "Didn't you say that we were moving on? Why are we back here again?" She'd been so relieved when he told her that he wasn't going to make her swim in the river again, although that had only lasted about a second before her wondered exactly what he was going to put her through next._

_Haku seemed apologetic as he turned to face Sakura, and that was enough to send a fearful chill down her spine. "Yes, I did. We're moving on to the next stage of your training." He then pulled out a scroll and laid it on the ground._

_Sakura felt a sense of foreboding creep through her chest as she watched him unfold the scroll, revealing a storage seal. Her body tensed and she audibly gulped when he made a hand sign before the scroll vanished under a puff of smoke. In its wake, something appeared which confirmed the young girl's fears. Something that had her take a step back, her eyes wide with terror and her mouth agape as her arm cross over her chest as if to protect herself from the horror._

_Four weighted bracers, each labeled '20 lbs.'_

_Lifting one up, Haku said, "From now on, you'll have to wear these while swimming."_

_"GAH." Was Sakura's strangled reply._

* * *

><p><em>"All right, listen up you brats." Zabuza said, staring at the genin of Team Seven alongside Haku and Kakashi from the edge of the clearing. Sakura had been dreading this day. It was once more time for a joint training session to work on their teamwork. While normally this would be a welcome reprieve from most Haku's training, it was Zabuza's turn to supervise. Every step on the way here, her feet had been weighed down by the shackles of anxiety as she could only imagine what new nightmare he'd put in them through.<em>

_"After hearing so much of this bell training this village seems so fond of, I've decided that to put my own spin on it for today's main exercise." He began and Sakura briefly held out hope that maybe this wouldn't be any worse than their second graduation exam or any of Kakashi's much more reasonable trials..._

_She really should have known better by now._

_"You're to treat this like a real mission. That means you can use just about anything you want. That includes dojutsu, but-" Zabuza said before looking pointedly at Naruto. "None of that gravity bullshit. That'll make this too easy."_

_"Damn." Naruto cursed, but he wasn't about to complain. Besides, he was right._

_"This time around, you've only got to get the one bell." Zabuza stated, pulling it out of his pocket for emphasis, though this one had a hook at the end of its chain. "All you have to do is get it and actually keep your hands on it while you make your escape."_

_Naruto and Sakura seemed puzzled, while Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Where are we trying to escape to?" Naruto asked._

_"Or do we have to lose you after we take the bell?" Sakura added._

_"Wrong questions, brats." Zabuza replied, and Sakura once more felt a sense of dread as his face twisted, making it clear he was wearing a sadistic smirk under his bandages. "What you should be asking is 'where from?'."_

_With that, he tossed the bell to his apprentice, who caught it. The three genin immediately knew what was about to happen and tensed as he attached it to his forehead protector, carefully spearing the hook into the cloth. Sure enough, after giving the trio a small smile, one that had them guessing whether or not he was enjoying this, Haku made hand signs that Sasuke recognized all too well._

_"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"_

_Suddenly, water rose from the nearby lake, forming the first layer of the dome of ice mirrors in a perfect circle around the trio. Sakura felt the temperature drop around them as the mirrors absorbed the heat from the surrounding air but never warmed in the slightest. In a few moments the dome was complete, sealing them in. Sakura watched in dread as Haku stepped back, phasing into the mirror. In moments, his image appeared on every mirror in the dome, each drawing senbon and placing them between his fingers in both hands, holding his arms crossed over his chest._

_The three genin took formation, each staring into a different direction, ready for the first attack to come from anywhere. While Naruto grinned and Sasuke smirked, eager for the challenge and the opportunity to best the technique that nearly beat them before, Sakura was clearly not as enthusiastic..._

_That is to say she was terrified._

_She trembled slightly as she recalled how Naruto and Sasuke looked the last time they faced this jutsu. Her eyes transformed into large white circles as she held her kunai before her._

_"And..." Zabuza began, raising his arm. "Begin!"_

* * *

><p><em>"Haku..." Sakura began, her eyes closed and her fist closed in front of her chest. She was trembling, though whether it was with outrage or fear one couldn't tell. Likely a combination of the two. "You've asked a lot of me since we started this nightmare you call 'training'... I won't lie and say I didn't complain, but in the end I did it. But..."<em>

_Suddenly, outrage won out against whatever dread she was feeling and she leveled a fierce glare at the ice user standing beside her, who raised his hands in a placating gesture as she pointed her left hand at the cliff wall before her._

_Well, it no longer really qualified as a 'cliff wall'. A more accurate term for what it was now would be 'death trap'._

_"DON'T YOU THINK THIS IS A LITTLE TOO MUCH!?" The rock wall before her, its surface far too jagged to try and run up its entirety had been converted into a vertical obstacle course. Built into the face of the cliff were all manner of traps, from wire nets that crisscrossed across the stone to clear kunai nests. Several rock fall traps and what looked like a small forest of bamboo shoots that no doubt held many more hazards within. Sakura was quite certain that for every trap she could see, there was at least one more she couldn't._

_As if that weren't enough, the purpose of this obstacle course was to provide a final test towards making her ambidextrous. For the past month, he'd had her train with her right hand tied behind her back..._

_This meant she had to go all through this 'challenge' with one hand, her right had secured with ropes tied around both shoulders and twice around her waist._

_Weathering the raging storm that was the pink haired girl's anger, Haku held his hands up in a placating gesture and smiled reassuringly with his eyes closed. "I understand where you're coming from, and you're right, this might seem like it's a bit... extreme... but look at it this way. I can guarantee this is the worst thing I'll put you through, so when you make it through it's all smooth sailing from there."_

_"Oh yeah, that's so comforting." Sakura replied through grit teeth._

_His enthusiasm evaporating like a puddle in the desert, Haku gave her a look that made it clear that he wasn't particularly pleased with this trial either. "Look, Sakura. Zabuza-sensei's the one who came up with this challenge. If I let you skirt on this exercise and he finds out, and I don't have to tell him; you know he will, what do you think he'll do?" Sakura froze for an instant; unable to keep herself from imagining what kind of hell Zabuza would put her through if she backed out, and seemed to deflate before shrinking into her and shivering. Haku once more put on a reassuring face, placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry. You've managed to make it through everything else we've thrown at you. I'm sure this will be no different."_

_Sakura just stared at him, clearly not the least bit soothed by his words._

_"And I'll be here to catch you if you fall."_

_She was still staring._

_"Now if you're ready, we should get started." Sakura whimpered before looking back at the cliff face._

* * *

><p><em>Sakura scrambled up the seemingly bare surface near the top of the cliff face, now less than a hundred meters from the finish line. Her body was riddled with small cuts and senbon and her restrained arm had long since begun to burn, but she still wore a look of hope and anticipation now that the end was in sight.<em>

_Just then her honed ears caught the sound of a trigger being sprung. She looked down just in time to see a barrage of kunai flying through the air towards her. Focusing the chakra into her arm and releasing it at just the right moment, she propelled herself dozens of meters up and safely out of the way of the daggers. She was afforded a brief moment of respite and allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief._

_That relief lasted all of two seconds before three sticks of bamboo burst from the stone, one striking her in the sternum and two in the stomach, propelling her into the air while all the air rushed out of her lungs with a grunt and a whoosh._

_Sailing through the air, she did the only thing she could when she regained her ability to breath._

_She screamed._

* * *

><p><em>Sakura barely managed to duck in time, feeling the air rush over her head as Zabuza's sword swung over her. However, the ex-mist ninja had predicted her move and slammed his foot into her chest, sending her flying back into a tree had enough that the bark shattered and leaving a cracked indentation in the lighter surface underneath.<em>

_Before he could press the advantage, he was suddenly sent slammed by an invisible force that propelled him through the tree-line and out of sight._

_The kunoichi turned to thank Naruto, only to freeze when Zabuza's sword flew through the air, passing just inches past her face, leaving her a shivering, fray haired mess._

* * *

><p><em>Sakura ran as fast as she could, looking over her shoulder and diving to the ground as Zabuza's sword spun through the air where her waist had been moments before, only for a sandal clad foot to slam into her back hard enough to send spider web like cracks through the surrounding ground for making the wrong move.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Sakura cried out in panic as boulders barreled towards her as she was navigating a wire field.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Sakura cried out, wondering how she'd gotten into this mess.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Sakura leapt from one bamboo shoot to the other as quickly as her arms and legs could take her as kunai and senbon came at her from every direction.<em>

* * *

><p><em>Sakura fell to the ground with a grunt as she felt a twinge of pain in her shin. Looking to her leg, she found two senbon, hitting her pressure points and paralyzing her tendons. She looked just up in time to see a wave of senbon speeding towards her. All she could do was raise her arm and scream.<em>

_(Flashback end)_

Sakura sunk to the floor and curled up into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest as a cloud of gloom seemed to hang over her head. They could just barely see the top half of her face, her skin tinged blue and her eyes speaking of untold despair. "I don't want to talk about it..."

"Uh... right." Shikamaru said as he raised a brow, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. He cast Ino and Chouji a look out of the corner of his eyes and said as quietly as possible. "Remind me to run interference if Asuma-sensei ever tries to take pointers from their teacher." His teammates kept their eyes on Sakura as they nodded.

"So..." Iruka began as his eyes scanned the room, narrowing slightly at the trio of tied up genin. Something was up, that would be clear even to most academy students. "While I don't disapprove, I'm surprised you guys came here together. It's rare that to see genin teams help each other or at least this openly. Can I ask what led to this team up?"

Naruto suddenly became serious, all traces of levity vanishing. Iruka couldn't prevent his eyes from widening at how quickly Naruto's expression shifted. While he couldn't see his eyes, the look on the boy's face reminded him in mind of when the blond had taken down Mizuki. It seemed he'd grown up a lot since he'd last seen him.

"Yeah, we ran into trouble. Listen Iruka-sensei, I need you to call the Hokage."

"Lord Hokage? Why?"

Knowing that there was no one in the area after sweeping it with his Rinnegan earlier, the blond answered, "Because Orochimaru's in the village."

Iruka's eyes widened in shock. "O-Orochimaru!? Naruto, are you serious? You mean you saw him?" He knew he wouldn't joke about something like that, but the implications of Orochimaru having personally infiltrated the village... Not to mention his mind had quickly worked out that if they'd seen fit to bring those sound genin there, there was a good chance Oto was connected.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and wordlessly jerked his head to Iruka, signaling his teammate. While the Uchiha heir grunted in displeasure at the order he complied; stepping forward and yanking down his collar, causing Iruka's face to once more take on a look of shock, his breath hitching in his throat as he recognized the seal on his neck.

'That's... a curse mark!' His expression turning grim, his eyes scanned over the group. "If you've been dealing with him and his underlings, then you've done well to make it here." He then directed his gaze at the trio of sound genin. "I take it they're subordinates of his?" Receiving a nod in response, continued. "Good work." He then turned and gestured for them to follow. "Come on and bring them with you, there are restricted passages we can use to keep the other genin from seeing us. Once we've got you settled, I'll get word to Lord Hokage and the appropriate people."

* * *

><p>Hiruzen Sarutobi walked through the deserted halls of the tower with his hands clasped behind his back, Anko Mitarashi trailing slightly behind him as they made their way to where the most recent victims of one of the village's most infamous traitors waited. Despite his relaxed posture, his mind was running a mile a minute as he considered all the possible objectives of his former pupil, not to mention the ramifications of his encounter with that particular team.<p>

While he had been told precious little about the events that had surrounded Team 7's ill-fated trip through the Forest of Death, what he knew had opened up a deep pit in his gut that told him that Naruto's most recent secret, which he had hoped to keep secret from the everyone, including the council due to certain figures such as Danzo and Hiashi, whose clan would likely wish to bring Naruto's line into the branch side of their family to maintain their jealously guarded position as holder of the most powerful dōjutsu in the village, had been revealed to one of the people he had absolutely not wanted to hear of it.

And that wasn't even getting into the reasons Orochimaru of all people was within the village. After all, he doubted he would return simply for a single bloodline, no matter how he coveted its abilities.

"Sir." Anko's voice drew the God of Shinobi out of his musings and he made a half turn to look at her out of the corner of his eye. "While I'm glad the brats managed to tackle three of his goons... what are we going to do with them?" She asked. "I mean, I doubt they know anything and with Orochimaru's warning..."

The Hokage sighed. "... I don't think it matters, one way or another."

Anko frowned. "You think he was bluffing?"

"I think he'd try to carry through with his threat regardless of what we did." The Third corrected her solemnly.

It wasn't long after this exchange when they reached their destination. Hiruzen opened the door, the sound drawing the eyes of all most the room save one. Scattered around the large, circular chamber were the various members of Team 7, Kakashi having arrived after hearing news of trouble concerning his students, and the genin of Team 10 with Sasuke sitting shirtless on the floor at the heart of the chamber. Kneeling behind him was the only one whose gaze hadn't been drawn to the sound: Jiraiya, who was busy examining the very familiar mark that now adorned Sasuke's neck. Anko only barely managed to keep from sympathetically reaching from the identical mark on her own neck at the sight.

"What have you found?" Hiruzen asked as he entered the room.

Without looking away from the mark, Jiraiya replied, "It's definitely a nasty piece of work. At first glance, it looks about the same as the first one I saw, but it's a bit more advanced... no surprise there, seeing as that was about a decade ago..."

"Well, Pervy Sage, can you remove it or what?" Naruto asked.

Ino glared at the other blond. "Naruto, you're talking to one of the greatest shinobi in the history of Konoha! Show some respect!"

Jiraiya finally looked up from Sasuke's seal to give the girl a grateful look. He raised his arm in the beginnings of an expressive gesture and opened his mouth to speak but before he could thank her and begin expounding his virtues, he was mercilessly cut off by Sakura. "No, Naruto's right. He may be some super ninja, but he's also a giant perv. First time I saw him he was peeping on the hot springs."

Whatever he was going to say died in his throat, its mangled remains leaving him in a strained, choking sound as his eyes turned to the pink haired girl, his mouth hanging open in a position to form words while his arm was left hanging in the air. Meanwhile, Ino turned to Sakura with a shocked expression before she rounded on Jiraiya, her fist raised and her eyes white orbs of fury. "WAIT, THAT WAS YOU!?"

Chouji, who had been munching on a bag of potato chips until that moment, froze. His eyes turned to his blond teammate, knowing where this was going while Shikamaru just sighed and said one of his two catch phrases, "Troublesome..."

Anko just shook her head in bemusement. "You haven't changed a bit, have you ya old perv? Nice to know some things never change."

Ino made a lunge for the Sannin, hands waving in his direction in rage crying out threats and obscenities. Fortunately for the males of Team 10, they didn't have to hold her back as Anko had taken over, keeping a firm grip on her collar with her eyes closed. "Calm down , blondie. I think we have a little more pressing matters to deal with right now. Just put those thoughts on the backburner." She grinned. "Besides, that way you can bide your time and get creative."

Ino stopped struggling at Anko's reminder. "Yeah, you're right. Sasuke's more important than dealing with an old peeping tom." She then gave the older kunoichi that sickly sweet smile most females seemed capable of producing, marked imminent pain and suffering for some poor, unfortunate soul who'd earned her ire. "Besides, I bet I can come up with something extra special for him in a few days."

Said poor unfortunate soul scoffed, "Oh please. There's only one kunoichi who can intimidate me, and you, little girl, aren't her."

"Oh yeah? You coulda fooled me the way you ran when I caught you at the hot springs." Sakura commented dryly as she gave him a dull stare.

"Yeah, because standing still is standard procedure when facing an angry mob." Jiraiya replied in a deadpan.

"Oh?" Jiraiya turned his dull gaze at sinister tone from the purple haired woman behind him. "Am I included in that, ma-ster Ji-rai-ya?"

Jiraiya actually laughed deep and loud much to Naruto's visible horror. "Oh please. While I admit you might creep the hell out of me sometimes Anko, unless you're blond, wear pig tails, have a one hundred and six centimeter bust and can destroy mountains with a single punch, there is no way this Jiraiya will ever be afraid of you!"

Anko grinned wickedly. Challenge accepted. "Oh really? Well, we'll just have to see about that..." Naruto shivered and silently said a prayer for the toad summoner.

Hiruzen coughed into his hand to get their attention. He would probably have found that exchange amusing were it not for the seriousness of the situation. "As you were saying before we got off topic..."

"Ah, right..." He turned to Naruto. "To answer your question no, I can't just remove it." His eyes hardened as he glared at the seal. "Like I said, this thing's a real piece of work... It's got some biological component to it and fuses with the victim, both in their cells and their chakra network. That's why it's so hazardous, most can't handle the strain of this thing worming its way into them and the body burns itself out trying to adapt. And the way the chakra in it reacts it's almost like it's got a mind of its own. It could be removed... theoretically at least, if you could pull all the chakra in it to the surface and suck it all out at once, but to pull that off you'd need to have it resonate with a like source. In other words, we'd need Orochimaru, or at least his chakra." He rubbed the back of his head with a sigh. "Good news is it's only affecting you the way it is because it's still raw. You'll build up a tolerance to it over the next few months and after that it'll only be a problem if you blow all your chakra or you're stupid or desperate enough to actually try to use it to your advantage."

Kakashi sighed. _'Maybe this team really is cursed..._'

Sasuke did not seem the least bit pleased with this prognosis. The Sannin's eyes hardened once again and he stared directly into Sasuke's coal orbs, his grim expression making it clear how dire the situation was. "I'm going to tell you right now Naruto was dead on the money about what this thing does. Use it, and your body and personality will be corroded away until you're just one of his pawns. Whatever power that seal might give you, it's not worth the price you'll have to pay."

It was then that Naruto spoke up, thinking of more immediate concerns. "Hey, hang on a minute, what about the exams? Is he supposed to go through whatever the third test is with a handicap?" Aside from the fact that he wanted to fight Sasuke at his best and as his teammate he wanted to support him, with enemies like Gaara participating he could die because of this thing if he didn't drop out.

And if there was one thing he couldn't see the Uchiha heir doing, it was back down from a challenge he considered worth his time.

"Hate to break it to ya kid, but it's probably best if he dropped out." Anko answered, her brow furrowed as her mind ran through the dangers of a fresh Cursed Mark.

"Now hang on." Jiraiya interjected, raising his hand in a halting gesture. "I may not be able to remove it, but I can seal its influence." He turned to look at Sasuke. "It'll put you under for about as long as the seal itself did, but afterwards you should be alright as long as you keep in mind that that seal will be powered by your chakra and will. Same dangers as if you just built up a tolerance naturally."

Sasuke's response was what could only be called typical of him; a nod and an affirmative grunt.

* * *

><p>The group stood in silence as Jiraiya, squatting down on his haunches, finished drawing a seal on the ground. The large array took up most of the room and consisted of three circles linked by three equidistant lines, all made up of countless characters, some kanji, including the characters for 'Bind' and 'Seal', the innermost ring being just large enough for Sasuke to sit in the center of the array, the three lines going up his body and surrounding the curse mark. With his work completed, Jiraiya rose to his feet and nodded to himself before placing his hands together in a Tora seal.<p>

"Alright kid, brace yourself. This isn't going to be easy on you." Jiraiya warned before he brought his hand back and Sasuke did as asked, tensing his body and preparing himself. "Sealing Art: Adamantine Guardian Seal!" With that he slammed his hand over the Uchiha's seal and the while array glowed blue-ish white as Sasuke cringed, the light it gave off illuminating the entire room in its azure hue. Then, all the characters began to shift, the circles tightening and closing in around the Uchiha as the characters ran along the three lines, shrinking until they were unidentifiable.

After the first few seconds, Sasuke grit his teeth to bite back a scream. A moment later, his considerable pain tolerance gave out and he cried out in agony as the Curse Mark fought against the binding, the burning sensation of its power struggling to maintain its hold over its host only a small magnitude worse than the seal uprooting said influence, ripping it out with all the patience and finesse of a panicked soldier driving a jagged spear into his enemy. The white hot waves and lines of pain as it forcing its way through his body and chakra was nearly as bad as it scoured him for any traces of the vile power that plagued him.

The glow faded as the seal became smaller and smaller until finally, the last portions ran up his body and formed a perfect circle around the offending mark, lined with unreadable characters. When the glowing circle faded into a black coloring, Sasuke lost consciousness, slumping forward to be caught by Jiraiya who lifted him up and walked over to Kakashi. Handing the boy over to his sensei, Jiraiya said, "He's all yours now. Make sure to keep an eye on him. He mustn't start trying to draw on the seal for power; its influence could lead him down a very dark path."

"I know. I can handle it." Kakashi replied with a nod. "Now, I believe I should find a somewhere for my student to spend the day." and with that, he walked towards the door, the other genin watching with Sakura and Ino visibly worried.

"Why don't you all go on and get yourself comfortable?" Jiraiya said, waving the genin off before looking to the Rinnegan bearer. "Naruto, stay behind for a sec, would ya?"

Naruto nodded as the rest of the genin filtered out.

"What do you think Jiraiya wants with him?" Ino quietly asked Shikamaru.

"Who knows? It could be anything. It's too troublesome to think about."

"Seriously, you could try to show just a little more interest!" She hissed.

At a nod from the Third, Anko's brow before shrugging and heading to the door. She wondered just why they wanted Naruto to stay behind, but if they wanted to keep whatever it was hush, then who was she to argue? With a wave over her shoulder she said, "Well, guess I'm off to meet my newest toys. Good luck kid, I'm expecting a good show from you. And if you blow it I'll just have to show you how disappointed I am."

Naruto shuddered slightly, both for himself and the likely deluded Oto genin. He knew Anko was trying to motivate him with those last words but... the terrors she could come up with...

Hiruzen looked down at Naruto with a grave expression. "... Orochimaru knows, doesn't he?"

Naruto sighed before rubbing the back of his head and looking away, "... Yeah. He knocked off my glasses during the fight... sorry."

"It isn't your fault, Naruto. You never should have had to face someone of that level." Hiruzen said reassuringly.

Jiraiya crossed his arms and shook his head. "Still, this opens up a whole new can of worms. He's the last person I'd hoped would learn about this. And of course he knows about your other secret too..." He looked down at Naruto. "He's gonna be gunning for you now. We might have to step up your training once you get out of here."

"No problem. It's not like I was planning to kick back and let my skills rust once the exams were over." The blond replied with a confident grin before holding out his fist. "I'm going to be Hokage someday, and that means everyone in the village is going to depend on me to protect them and being an example of what they can be and what Konoha stands for. I won't get there just by sitting around and letting the days pass me by. It means kicking ass and taking names! Super eyes or no, it's going to take hard work and I never back down from anything!"

Hiruzen smiled, remembering the days when the blond was solely focused on the position for the sake of acknowledgement. It seemed he was finally grasping what it would actually mean to be a Hokage. "Well said. Now, I'm sure your friends are probably wondering why you stayed behind. Why don't you go along after them?"

"You got it old man!" Naruto nodded before running out the door.

After a moment, Hiruzen turned to Jiraiya, his demeanor once more serious. "You think Orochimaru might leak this information to _them_?"

Jiraiya, his expression as grim as his sensei's, closed his eyes in contemplation. "Hard to say. He certainly wouldn't want to risk them snatching him up before he has a chance to, but they might have spies in his organization. There's also the risk his eyes will be exposed in whatever mess Orochimaru's cooking up for us. We'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

><p>Naruto stepped out into the hall and briefly activated his Rinnegan, just long enough to locate the chakra of his teammates before taking off through the halls. After taking two turns and going up a flight of stairs, he ran into none other than Kabuto, who blinked at the sight of the younger Genin.<p>

"Naruto?"

"Hey, Kabuto." Naruto greeted. "I see you made it in one piece."

"You too." Kabuto replied with a nod. "I guess you found your team then. Was everyone alright?"

"Yeah. I was a little worried for a minute there, but they're both safe. Sasuke's a bit under the weather, but he'll pull through. I was just on my way to meet up with them, wanna come by and say hey?"

Kabuto shook his head and gave an apologetic smile. "No, my own team is expecting me. I'll be sure to stop by before the next stage though, ok?"

"Sure! See ya later." And with that, Naruto took off and Kabuto watched as he bounded down the hall. A moment after Naruto vanished from sight, Kabuto's smile widened, becoming something twisted. Something that was a mockery of everything a smile was possibly meant to convey.

_(Flashback)_

_Kabuto and his two teammates, both wearing attire that matched his own, stepped into the entrance hall of the tower. The moment he set foot within the double doors, a smirk found its way to his face as he sensed the presence of his sensei._

_"So, how was your journey Kabuto? I trust you found it enlightening."_

_Kabuto tilted his head forward and pushed up his glasses with his index finger, the light reflecting off the lenses and hiding his eyes behind their shine. "Indeed it was." He pulled out Naruto's ninja info card and handed it out for a chalk white hand to take. "While I didn't find everything I was looking for, I believe you'll be satisfied..." He raised his head to look at the man who inspected his carefully gathered information. "... Lord Orochimaru."_

_Orochimaru scrutinized the card with a wide grin before letting out a chilling chuckle. "Oh I assure you, I am. While you may have missed an opportunity to gather Intel on Sasuke, Naruto's proven to be a far more fascinating specimen than I anticipated." He looked up at the gray haired youth; his right hand man. "He was quite the entertainment during their doomed attempt to escape me, and I found the boy was hiding a most intriguing secret."_

_"Oh? And may I ask just what it could be to have piqued your interests so?" Kabuto tiled his head to the side slightly_

_The traitorous Sannin closed his eyes and chuckled, pausing for dramatic effect, before leveling his snake like, amber eyes on Kabuto so he could savor his shock. "It would seem the boy has spontaneously developed the Rinnegan."_

_Kabuto gasped slightly, his eyes wide, straightening himself up from the shock as one of the most dangerous spies in all the Elemental Countries, a man who couldn't afford to be surprised, was completely thrown for a loop. His teammates shared in his reaction. "The... Rinnegan? But... my Lord... how? Our research..."_

_"How indeed. I'm eager to find that out myself. All of my research into those eyes says this should be impossible... but then, the word has a rather loose definition for shinobi, wouldn't you agree?" Orochimaru shook his head. "Still, we're in no hurry. With all my objectives laid out before me, I can afford to be patient a little while longer."_

_"Shall I update my info card?"_

_"Mmmm... No. The farther this spreads the more likely it is to fall into... untrustworthy hands. And should that happen, my old associates may hear of it... and we certainly wouldn't want that, now would we? They might dismiss it because he's a child... or they may come for him sooner. That's something we can't allow." His gaze took on a curious gleam as he eyes his subordinate. "What's your opinion on all this?"_

_"It's certainly unexpected... but beyond that my opinion doesn't matter." Kabuto replied. "After all, you're the one who will decide everything."_

_"How amusing..." Orochimaru chuckled. "Perhaps it would be best to deal with this particular curiosity between stages... after all, he's grown a great deal in a short time. I'd almost attribute it to his eyes, but... he's developed in other areas they wouldn't account for. I suppose it's no surprise... he is _their_ son after all."_

_Kabuto frowned. "'Their' son…? Did you know his parents, my lord?"_

_Orochimaru let out another amused chuckle. "Oh come now, don't tell me your time here has dulled your senses so, Kabuto. It's so apparent just by looking at him the majority of the village must be blind not to see it."_

_The purple clad teen shrugged. "I never found any indication of his family... as far as I know; he was just some random orphan."_

_Orochimaru shook his head. "Well, I won't spoil the surprise for you." He stepped away from the wall before he vanished in a burst of smoke. "Try to figure it out, if you have the spare time." His voice echoed from around them._

_(Flashback end)_

"Naruto Uzumaki." Kabuto spoke as he stood alone in the hallway. "You're much more interesting than I thought."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this.<strong>

**Out of curiosity, for everyone who knows the plot of Naruto: The Last, who's read the databooks or seen it on the wiki, who else finds it utterly ridiculous that Kishimoto made the Otsutsukis aliens?**

**Still, there are recent events in canon have given me a lot of ideas and changed a few of my plans... particularly the new anime arc that shows Fuu when she was alive, though it really makes me wish she and Naruto had met in canon. On that note, I'm considering dropping Yugito from the pairing. I can't promise it will actually affect my decision, but what do you guys think?**

**From this point forward, this story and Legends of Two Jinchuriki will be my main focuses. That said, I can't promise when the next update will be. ****Please Review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey everyone. Sorry it took so long. I've actually been focusing on the next chapter of Naruto: Legends of Two Jinchuriki. A somewhat important event happens next chapter and I kept going over it again and again. It's mostly finished... except I then realized there were some problems with the plot of the arc. As a part of the next chapter leads up to this, I have to revise the plot before I can post it... I'm still working on it... I might have to write out the whole arc before I post anything to make sure it all works, or rewrite something in the previous chapter.**

**Fortunately, I'm having no such problems here. So without further ado, let's get started.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>"So, how's he doing?" Naruto asked as he entered the room.<p>

Sakura and Ino maintained a vigil on Sasuke's bedside while Kakashi stood at its foot and Shikamaru and Chouji stood at the wall, the Nara laying against it.

"A lot better than when he first got the curse mark;" Sakura answered before looking back to the Uchiha heir, resting the back of her hand on his forehead. "He's relaxed and he's not running a fever this time."

Kakashi sighed and closed his sole visible eye. "I'll have to keep a close eye on him from here on out." He turned towards Naruto. "It may seem like Orochimaru wants Sasuke to come to him, but he's always been a fickle one when it comes to what he wants. He could easily decide that he doesn't want to wait and send someone to retrieve him." It went unspoken that it the same attention would have to be paid to Naruto.

"How long was he like this before?" Ino asked Sakura.

"He was out all night. He should be up by tomorrow."

"Well," Shikamaru began, pushing away from the wall and rubbing the back of his neck. "We're going to need to find a room of our own. Besides, Asuma-sensei will probably show up before too long. I want to hear his take on this, besides he should probably know if he doesn't already. Looks like there are some rough times up ahead." He turned to Naruto. "Anything else we should know before we head out?"

Naruto shook his head before his head jerked slightly as a though struck him. "Oh right!" His brow furrowed as he looked at Shikamaru. "Listen, you remember Gaara from Kabuto's cards? If you wind up going up against him, run, forfeit, I don't care; just get out of their fast."

Shikamaru arched a brow, regarding Naruto curiously as he was once again reminded of the change in his former classmate. "He's that dangerous, huh?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I ran into him back into the forest." Well, not him per se, but close enough. "I found out why he's never gotten hurt before. That gourd of his? It's full of sand infused with his chakra. He can control it like it's a part of him and it blocks any attack you throw at him. He likes to wrap his opponents up in it and crush them to death..." Shikamaru frowned. That wouldn't be easy to fight. Naruto shook his head, looking down at the floor, his brow furrowed. "That's not even the worst of it. He actually _likes_ killing people. He goes out of his way for it and from the looks of it he likes being as brutal about it as possible."

His hand clenched at his side as he remembered how Gaara had directed the same hand he'd used to crush the Ame genin at his teammate. His jaw clenched. After being alone for so long, being on this team had easily been one of the best things that ever happened to him. Sure he and Sasuke tended to butt heads, and sure he was beginning to doubt if Sakura would ever see him as anything more than a friend, but the two of them, Kakashi-sensei, Teuchi and Ayame, Iruka and old man Hokage, he saw them all as his family.

To see someone treat their team that way disgusted him. "He even threatened one of his teammates..." He said in a slight growl in his voice. "It looked like they were afraid of him, so I don't think he was bluffing. I saw him take on a whole team of Ame genin on his own... it wasn't pretty." The response was varied. Ino's had shrunk back a little, quailing while her face loses some color. Chouji's eyes widened and he stopped eating while Shikamaru's frown deepened. All the while Kakashi listened, his poker face unchanging even though his mind was working furiously.

Something about what he just heard didn't sit right with the Jonin... well, even more so than hearing of a child who took pleasure in the brutal taking of life did on its own, anyway.

Finally, Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head. "Yeesh, it's just one thing after another with these exams."

"Well, at least we're safe right now." Chouji pointed out, looking at his potato chips with slight disappointment; no way he could eat after the picture that was just put in his head. With some reluctance, feeling that leaving the bag unfinished was a form of minor sacrilege, he rolled up rolled up the opening to seal it as best he could.

"Yeah, that's all for now anyway." Ino agreed before the three headed towards the door.

"Hey, Ino," Sakura called out, getting the blond's attention.

"What is it, billboard brow?" Ino asked, causing Sakura to glare at her before she took a calming breath.

The pink haired kunoichi gave her former friend a somewhat grateful look and softly said, "Thanks for helping us out back there."

Ino blinked before smirking as she closed her eyes and turned her head up, sticking her nose in the air. "Don't mention it. I couldn't just leave Sasuke's life in your hands, could I?" She then turned and walked out the door and said over her shoulder, "Take care of him for me, got it, Sakura?"

Sakura growled as the rest of Team 10 followed Ino before running over and yelling after her. "He's not yours, Ino-pig! So stop talking like you've already won!"

Ino just laughed in response as she kept walking. Just as Sakura started to duck back into her room, Ino called out, "Sakura." Getting her attention. Giving her fellow kunoichi a warmer smile, she said, "It looks like things are gonna be a little rough up ahead, so take care of them... and look after yourself too, ok?"

Sakura seemed a little surprised before she smiled and nodded. "Right, same to you, Ino." And with that, she ducked back into the room she shared with her teammates.

"Rough, huh? That's about the understatement of the century." Chouji commented as he turned back to Ino who sighed in response. "So what was that just now? I thought you two weren't really on speaking terms anymore. Well, unless you count going at it like angry cats whenever you're in the same room."

Ino raised a fist to her chest and glared at her teammate. "Shut up! This is just how affairs of the heart work between rivals!"

"Ok, ok, no need to bite my head off." Chouji replied with his hands raised in a placating manner. He then chuckled with a small smile.

This only seemed to irritate the Yamanaka heir more. A cross shaped vein pulsed on her forehead as she placed her hands on her hips. "And just what's so funny?"

"Oh nothing. It's just nice to see you getting along like you used to."

"Hmph." Ino turned her head away. "That was just a momentary thing. Nothing's changed, and I will be the one to win Sasuke. Just you watch!"

"Yeah, I hear you." Chouji said and Ino walked away.

"Affairs of the heart, huh? Somehow I don't think all that drama is necessary." Shikamaru said as he walked up beside Chouji.

"Eh, you know what they say. A woman's heart is one thing men will never truly understand."

"Whatever." Shikamaru replied as the two walked after their blonde teammate. "I just know it's just a drag to be caught up in their rivalry. You know she's not going to stop hounding us after this until we've caught up to those three, right?" He smirked. "And she'll probably try to have you go on a diet."

Chouji looked horrified. "Sh- she wouldn't..!"

"Ah, don't worry about it. Just explain why this is normal for your clan and she'll understand... probably." Chouji just groaned in response. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Hey! What are you guys talking about back there!?" Ino called back at her teammates.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"That's what they always say when you should worry! You were talking about me, weren't you!?"

* * *

><p>Naruto sat at a table against a wall in the Uchiha's room, keeping Sakura company as she refused to leave Sasuke's side. Kakashi had left to speak with the Hokage. He was once again reading his book on sealing jutsu: 'The Sealing Arts: Maintaining Stability while Maximizing Power'. According to Jiraiya, the author wasn't half as good as he thought he was, but there was nothing in the book that was wrong and the information was factual. It contained a lot of intermediate knowledge of seals as well as patterns and matrixes that grant stability and strengthen the effects and tips on improvising your own unique combinations. Meanwhile, two clones sat on the floor in the corner of the room taking in different subjects in the art, one looking into more characters and their meaning and the other reading up other tips on improving the stability and the speed with which the seals functioned.<p>

Reading up on and practicing fūinjutsu had become one of his favorite pastimes, and it was really the only thing he could do to improve himself while they were confined to the tower until the next stage of the exams began. However, soon enough he found himself growing curious about what was going on. So after an hour of studying, an act which would have no doubt sent Iruka into hysterics, Naruto rose to his feet. With a groan, he stretched out his arms before rolling his neck, eliciting a few pops due to how long he'd been staring down at the pages, he placed his book under his arm and made a cross shaped hand sign and summoned another clone before tossing it to it, who promptly caught it and flipped back to his page.

"I'm going to go take a look around." Naruto told Sakura.

Sakura looked over to him and nodded. "All right. Keep your eyes open, ok?"

He waved her off. "Relax. It's not like Orochimaru's going to attack us here with the Hokage in the building." Despite his reassuring words, he knew better than to completely let his guard down with the snake Sannin on the loose.

Placing his hands behind his head, he walked along the halls of the tower, only his footsteps echoing around the corridors as he aimlessly made his way, in search of something interesting to pass the time. He went up and down several flights of stairs, turned many corners, but found nothing and no one. Eventually, he grew bored and headed outside, finding a balcony and leaping up to the building's highest point. From there, he activated his Rinnegan, seeing how far he could see chakra signatures hidden within the forest. Once more, the barrier surrounding the village became visible to his eyes as the world shifted to black and white with various shades of blue representing pure chakra.

Looking down into the forest, he could see brief flickers of color revealing chakra, but mostly all he saw were the black of the trees and their leaves. He saw a flock of birds take to the sky, a barely visible aura of blue surrounding them as flew out of sight. After a few moments, he closed his eyes and deactivated the legendary dōjutsu, trying to extend his senses and sense the presence and signatures of everyone around him without their use. Shiho had gotten him a book of supplementary ninja skills she thought he'd appreciate and she'd been right. It wasn't a skill that was easy to nurture, but he could see the value in it. Problem was the ability required an innate talent in it that you wouldn't know if you had or not until you tried it. Some rare individuals didn't even have to practice; they just had it from birth like any other sense. So far, the blond had made no progress. But then, he hadn't been putting much effort into the exercises just yet.

Many of the books had been annoyingly vague, simply stating the quickest way to awaken the sense was to close off ones senses and open up your mind to the world. Or, as the more comprehensive writings he'd browsed through, close off your five senses as best you can, focus your chakra on your brain and attempt to sense the people around you. It was best if you knew where they were so you at least had some vague idea where to look. He absently decided to try some more when he returned to his team's rooms. Sakura and Sasuke weren't going anywhere for a while and maybe it would help keep an eye on whatever the Curse Mark was doing if he ever got the hang of it.

The attempt was, predictably, a total failure. In the end, it wasn't his currently non-existent sensing abilities but rather his ears that caught an approaching presence.

A series of barks drew his attention.

"Hm? What's that, Akamaru?" More barks, followed by footsteps. Naruto looked down to see Kiba stepping out onto the balcony, his hands resting in his pockets and Akamaru's head sticking out from the top of his jacket. He turned his head and looked up, seeing the blond. "Well, look at that! I guess you three made it after all!"

Naruto asked as he jumped down, landing on the balcony in a crouch before righting himself. "Was there ever any doubt?" He asked with a confident grin.

Kiba gave an amused scoff and said, "Don't get too ahead of yourself. This forest was no problem. We got here on the first day."

Naruto would have pointed out that they almost made it on the first day too, but dropped it as he would have come up with some excuse to avoid talking about Orochimaru. They didn't need word about that to spread right now. Instead, he shook his head, his mouth twisting into a slight grimace as another thought crossed his mind "Don't let Anko hear you say that. She'll probably toss you into the darkest part of the forest and chase you through it."

The Inuzuka briefly considered saying something smug, but thought better of it. That woman creeped him out and he had a feeling Naruto wasn't just blowing smoke. He made an affirmative grunt before adding, "We'll see just what your made of in the next rounds." Kiba replied before arching a brow. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

Naruto shrugged, turning his head to the side. "Oh, you know. Just thought I'd get some shut eye, seemed like a pretty good place."

Kiba gave him a dull look. "You do know we have rooms for that, right?"

"You do know I was kidding, right?" Naruto replied with an equally blank tone before shaking his head. "Seriously, I was just taking in the sights. Not like there's much else to do around here until this part of the exams over."

"Well, you got that right." The pair turned at the female voice that cut through their conversation to find Temari approaching them. The pair tensed, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the girl or Kiba, before relaxing as they confirmed that her redheaded teammate was nowhere in sight. "So I take it there's really nothing to do around here?"

"Nope." Naruto shrugged. "Unless you want to crack open a book or something, be ready to sit around and twiddle your thumbs."

Kiba arched a brow and gave the blond a skeptical look. "Since when did you read? You used to do everything you could to get out of class."

"Times change." Naruto deadpanned. Truthfully, he still didn't particularly like reading unless it involved sealing jutsu, but he didn't need to be told that there was some awesome, incredible, spectacular secret or technique to get him to read anymore.

Though it would help.

"Oh, a troublemaker are we?" Temari asked in an amused tone, placing her hands on her hips.

"You've got no idea, Temari!" Naruto replied with his usual wide smile. "So what brought you all the way up here?"

"Eh, same as you I guess." She replied with a shrug. "And I needed to get away from my brothers. Being the oldest and the only sister in a family can be a pain sometimes." She saw no harm in sharing that information with them.

Naruto and Kiba, both having seen how Gaara treated his teammates', jaws dropped as they stared at her incredulously. In Kiba's jacket, Akamaru made no reaction, having sensed a similarity in their scents. "Wha-! Bu-!" The Rinnegan bearer stammered. "Those two are your brothers?!"

Putting his thoughts on the way Gaara aside, Kiba recovered and shouted, "Seriously!? You three don't look anything alike!"

"Well that happens from time to time." Temari shrugged before she saw Naruto frowning and clenching his fist. She tilted her head to the side. "Something wrong?"

Naruto took in a deep breath and sighed before shaking his head. "Not much, it's just that your brother, the small one... he seemed kind of cold to you guys, I guess." He said, deciding not to mention he'd seen the battle in the forest.

"Tell me about it." Temari averted her gaze and rubbed the back of her neck. "But he's like that to everyone. If anything, I do get some preferential treatment for being his big sister. It's not much, but it's something."

"If I had a sister, you better believe I wouldn't act the way that guy does." Naruto shook his head with a slight growl.

Temari glared at the other blond. What did he know? Yeah, she didn't like the way Gaara treated her, but it wasn't his fault! She wouldn't deny he scared her a little... ok, a lot, but anyone who grew up the way he did was entitled to act however they wanted. "Well what do you know? In case you haven't noticed, you're not my brother." She wondered what his problem was. That was way too big a reaction for the way Gaara generally acted. She'd only talked to the blond once. Gaara hadn't done anything too bad in front of them, so why would they...

Oh... he must have been hiding out during Gaara's 'fight' with the Ame genin and witnessed the aftermath...

"I know that if I was lucky enough to have a sister, I sure as hell wouldn't be a jerk to her!" Naruto answered hotly.

Then she blinked as something about the when her words registered and she looked at him curiously, her eyes narrowed slightly. He wouldn't react this badly if he just wished he had a sibling, so... "You... you don't have a family, do you?"

Naruto shook his head. "Nope. I've been an orphan as long as I can remember. I don't even know who my parents were." His tone made it clear this was a sore subject.

"Well, sorry." She replied gruffly. "But you're still not Gaara. He might not be the nicest guy to me, but he's still my little brother, and I'm not going to listen to you insult him."

"Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean it can't piss me off to see someone treating their own family like that."

Temari arched a brow, absently noting that the blond before her and her father would most certainly NOT get along if that were the case. "Why do you even care? In case you haven't noticed, we're from rival villages, even if we are allies right now."

"I don't care about any of that crap." Naruto replied before shrugging. "Konoha, Suna, whatever. None of that matters as far as I'm concerned."

Temari looked at him curiously. "Well, you're certainly a unique one."

Naruto grinned enthusiastically and brought his fist to his chest. "And proud of it!"

Temari gave a short laugh. She briefly thought to herself that the world might be a better place if more people though like the boy in front of her. Then she wouldn't have to... It didn't matter. Things were how they were. "Well, I'm going to look around some more." She walked away, waving at them over her shoulder. "Nice talking with you."

"Same to you, Temari!" Naruto replied as he watched her walk away.

Kiba shook his head. "Man, if I treated my sister like that brother of hers, my mom would skin me alive. Their parents must be total douches to let that crap go on." He then turned to Naruto. "You really are a knucklehead. Sheesh, you do know we're in a competition, right?"

"Yeah, and you should get your ears looked at. Like I said, I don't give a damn about any of that."

Kiba scoffed. "Whatever. So, what was that back there? You reacted the same way I did when you saw her."

"Well what do you think it was?"

"I think you had a run in with her little brother while we were all back in the forest."

"Gee, was it that obvious?" Naruto responded sardonically before saying. "Actually, it was the same time you did."

Kiba blinked. "Huh? You were there too?"

"Yep," Naruto answered before he rubbed the back of his head. "I was out scouting and hid in the trees when I saw the fight about to go down. I had the perfect vantage point to see you guys hiding in the bushes. I was ready to lend a hand if Gaara turned on you guys. Luckily I didn't have to."

"And what do you think could you have done if that guy decided to kill us? Last I checked the best you could hope for would be to hold him off for all of two seconds."

The blond glared at the belittling of his skills... Although, he had to admit that before he really got serious, before Wave, Kiba would probably have been right. Though if anything, that thought just pissed him off more. He really hated thinking about how obnoxious and cocky he'd been not too long ago. He still was kind of brash, but now he could actually back it up.

"I think I could have taken him if I really had to." Naruto growled out, eager to teach his former classmate just how much he'd grown since they graduated.

"Hmph, yeah right. Quit deluding yourself. You'd have about as good a chance to take that guy as you do of actually becoming Hokage someday." Kiba said before turning away, clearly not the least bit intimidated.

Naruto just clenched his fist before throwing his arm out and reigning in his indignation. "Yeah, keep talking. Just wait until we fight, then we'll see who's laughing."

"Yeah, me, all the way to the next round."

"Only if I've knocked you senseless!"

When Kiba reached the door he turned around. "Seriously though, don't get into a fight with that guy if you can avoid it. It won't just be your pride on the line there."

"Yeah, because he's clearly a live and let live kind of guy." Naruto said sardonically before crossing his arms. "Same to you."

Kiba nodded and walked through the door. Naruto shook his head and turned to look out the forest. '_Things are heating up._' The blond thought as he placed his hand on the rail. He couldn't help but let an eager grin spread across his face. He couldn't say he was looking forward to whatever Orochimaru was planning, but as for the rest of the exams... '_Things are getting crazy around here! I'll have to give them all a real showstopper!_'

* * *

><p>"Naruto!" It was just after the break of dawn the next day when Sakura suddenly burst through the door to the blond's room. However, she stopped and stared in surprise at what she saw.<p>

Naruto had three clones sitting near the corner of the room. One was reading a book, probably on sealing jutsu if she knew her teammate, while the other two were holding kunai, seemingly focusing on them. They were attempting to flow their chakra through the weapons, mostly as a way to improve both their chakra control and skill in the wind element as channeling and shaping one's chakra through another object was one of the more difficult than doing so in one's own body.

However, it was what the real Naruto was doing that caught her attention. He was sitting on his bed with his tracksuit off and lying on the back of a nearby chair, leaving him in his orange pants and a black t-shirt. His legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees. His sunglasses were off, allowing Sakura to see that his eyes were closed before he cracked open a single purple eye to look at her.

"Hey, Sakura." The blond said before he unfurled his legs, stretching as he let them hang over the side of his bed, reaching over to his nightstand and picking up his sunglasses. "What's up?"

"Wer-, were you meditating?" Sakura stuttered incredulously, unable to believe what she just saw. Momentarily stunned out of her previous thoughts, she almost felt compelled to check the blond's temperature to make sure there wasn't something wrong with him.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Not exactly. I was trying to sense your chakra, but I didn't have much luck."

Sakura shook her head, remembering why she was there. "Never mind about that! Sasuke's up! Come on!"

Naruto blinked behind his sunglasses as she ran back to the Uchiha's room next door before jumping off his bed and grabbing his tracksuit and throwing it on. As he followed her. When he reached Sasuke's room, he found Sakura had returned to his side. The Uchiha heir was sitting up with a hand on his neck, bending his neck to work out the kinks from having lied immobile for so long with his eyes closed.

"Nice to see you've got finally got enough beauty sleep. Finally up gotten over your little hicky, Sasuke?" Naruto said jokingly with a smirk, which Sasuke ignored while Sakura threw him a glare.

"It's not a hicky, Naruto!"

Naruto held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Yeah, yeah, I know. So, how are you feeling?"

Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing the crimson of his Sharingan. It was with more than a little relief that he noted that rather that he crippling pain he felt last time he attempted to use his Kekkei Genkai; there wasn't even a dull throb from his neck. He turned to his teammates, taking in the sight of their chakra and the odd view of transparent images over his teammates' forms, showing him what they would do moments later while his eyes allowed him to perfectly interpret their actions. His crimson orbs returned to their standard coal color and closed his eyes, bending his neck again. "I'll be better once I've worked out the kinks. That old man might act like a fool most of the time, but he's earned his reputation, I'll give him that." He turned to Naruto. "I take it you've had a look around. Anyone else we know make it to the tower?"

Naruto shrugged. "It's mostly people from Konoha. I saw Tenten and Kiba, so there teams made it. Gaara's team's here too, no surprise there. But get this, those three are actually siblings!"

Sakura seemed surprised to hear that. "Seriously? They don't look anything alike."

"Yeah, right? That's what I thought."

"So all our biggest competition made it." Sasuke mused. "Find anything out?"

Naruto shrugged. "Eh, not really."

"Why am I not surprised?" Sasuke shook his head.

"Well excuse me, but no one's going to advertise their powers, you know!" Naruto shot back. "It's not like you could have done much better." Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement. "Though you shouldn't have much of a problem with Temari."

"And you got that from?"

"You couldn't tell?" Naruto asked, his eyebrows rising slightly. Surprisingly to his teammates, he went into a short of lecture mode, raising his hand and extending his index finger. "She's a wind user. That's why she carries that fan; she can use wind jutsu without hand seals with it." He smirked and tilted his head to the side. "I thought that a prodigy would know stuff like that."

"You'll have to forgive me for not being well versed in an element I don't use." Sasuke replied sarcastically.

Sakura frowned in thought as she considered what the most dangerous team among their rivals was easily. "So then... That guy, Kankuro's probably a physical fighter of some kind, since his brother and sister are ninjutsu specialists. Maybe not but... that'd be the most balanced set up." Sasuke nodded, agreeing with her assessment.

"Ok, so we've got a pretty good guess of what most of the other guys can do, and they've got no idea about us. That's an advantage if I've ever heard one." Naruto said with his arms crossed before turning to the door. "I'm going to go give Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru the good news. They'll probably want to know you're up."

And with that, he left to alert the members of Team 10.

* * *

><p>The trio spent most of their remaining time resting from their ordeals, hanging out with Team 10 and discussing how best to counter their potential rivals, focusing on the most dangerous individuals like Gaara. Naruto also spent his time doing what little he could to improve his abilities. That had always been something of a problem of his. Kakashi didn't call him the Number One Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja for nothing; he'd always had trouble sitting still or resting for long periods of time. He had to do something and with little else available around the tower and nowhere to go, one of easiest ways to pass the time was to do his best to improve his skills in the privacy of his room. Still, it was only a few days so while he did pick up some new information on seals he made little progress elsewhere.<p>

Time flew and soon enough, they were called to assemble in the main hall.

"About time things finally got moving." Naruto commented, punching his fist into his open palm as he and his team walked through the halls of the tower, along with the members of Team 10. At Ino's behest, they'd chosen rooms close to those of Team 7 and thus had about the same route.

"Geez, you'd think he'd be a little less enthusiastic after the last exam was such a drag." Shikamaru commented.

Sakura turned and shrugged, smiling slightly as she replied, "What else did you expect? That's how he always is."

Chouji swallowed a mouthful of his potato chips. "I don't have a good feeling about all this... think we can back out now?"

"Damn it Chouji don't talk like that, you'll jinx us!" Ino chastised her teammate. "Don't worry so much. We made it this far, right? I'm sure we'll be fine."

"What was it you said about jinxing us? I'm pretty sure that's right up there with 'what could possibly go wrong'?" The Akamichi grumbled, looking glumly at his potato chips, one of his last bags. "I just wish they'd had some food for us here. We shouldn't have had to go back into the forest just to get our next meal."

Ino put her hands on her hips and gave him an annoyed look. "Well we might not have had to if someone didn't inhale every morsel in front of them at every opportunity!"

Soon enough, the group entered the main hall to find Team Gai, Kabuto's team and the Sand Siblings were already there, each team lined up into a single row standing before the Hokage, the proctors along with Iruka arrayed in front of him and the sensei of the passing teams behind him. A lone Sand Shinobi wearing turban like headgear with a length of the white cloth covering the left half of his face was the sole foreigner, obviously the Sand Trio's teacher. The only other individual present Naruto didn't recognize was a Konoha shinobi wearing glasses identical to Kabuto's; likely his sensei.

As they moved to join them, Team 8 emerged from the hallway. Hearing more footsteps behind him, Naruto turned and was slightly surprised to see the three Ame genin he'd encountered with Kabuto enter the room, the fresh cuts on their exposed faces hinting that they'd arrived just in the nick of time. The leader of the three glared at him to which he responded with a grin.

Sasuke noticed and quietly questioned, "You know those three?"

"Eh, they're just some losers I took a scroll off of. Nothing to worry about."

'_Yeah, keep grinning. We'll see who gets the last laugh._' The leader of the Ame genin thought as he continued to glare.

'So only 7 of the teams made it...' Temari mused as her eyes wandered the assembled genin.

Looking over the group, Kurenai's eyes widened when her gaze fell on her team. 'What's wrong with Akamaru?' She wondered, seeing the dog cowering after a fearful glance at Gaara while Kiba gave the redhead an uneasy look.

The Third Hokage looked over all the participants who'd made it this far, his eyes lingering briefly on Kurenai's team; the only group of the rookies he hadn't known was accounted for. 'All of them made it. It's no wondering their sensei's nominated them.' He mused.

"All right, listen up!" Anko demanded the genin, all of whom stood at the ready. "Lord Hokage's going to explain the third exam."

Placing his hand on his pipe, the Hokage took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet tobacco and blowing out the smoke before saying, "Before we talk about the next stage, there's something I'd like to explain to you." He began, getting the Genin's attention. "Why do we have all the allied nations taking them together? 'To promote friendship across countries' and 'To raise the quality of our shinobi'." He listed off the generally given reasons. "I don't want you to misunderstand the meaning, however... the true purpose the exam is... to serve as a replacement for war amongst our allies."

That surprised many of the teens, eliciting a range of responses mostly consisting of widened or narrowed eyes aside from Gaara who displayed no reaction to the revelation. The members of Team Seven and Ten were also caught off guard a bit. Naruto had told them Kabuto's explanation on the exam stages, but the exam veteran had never explained the reasons behind it all.

"Not too long ago, we were at war with our current allies. In order to avoid any more wasteful fighting, a stage was set to facilitate future battles and determine the standing of each nation's village. That was the origin of the Chunin Exams."

"Our standing?" Ino questioned.

"During the third stage, influential people from all the nations, including the leaders of the various countries, will come to observe the battles. Those people are the most important clients of our villages. If a nation appears strong, they will receive more clients, conversely those who appear weak will lose clients. In addition, a strong showing will warn potential enemies to avoid conflict, while a weak showing may make your nation seem vulnerable."

"But why!? Why do we have to risk our lives just to make our village look good!?" Kiba asked indignantly.

"The strength of a country is the strength of its village. And the strength of its village is the strength of its shinobi. And a shinobi's true strength can only be shown in a life or death battle." The third explained calmly. "This exam is a place to display your countries' strength, as well as your own. It only has meaning because your lives are at risk. And that's why your predecessors have all fought in these exams."

"But then... what was all that talk about friendship before?" Tenten asked.

"I told you at the beginning not to misunderstand. The balance established here... shapes the friendship of the shinobi world." Hiruzen finished his explanation, giving it a moment to soak in. "Before we begin, I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test; it's a battle with your lives, your dreams, and your village's standing on the line."

Naruto nodded, that had been his best guess why there would be VIPs there, though the whole replacement for war part blindsided him he could see what he meant. _I'm guessing it probably doesn't send a good message that none of your ninja even made it this far..._''

"Enough explanations get on with it. Tell us what this battle entails." Gaara demanded.

"Very well, I would like to explain, but-"

"Actually..." A new voice cut across the Hokage's before trailing off into a cough. Suddenly, a new Konoha shinobi appeared in a blur, kneeling before his leader. He wore a bandana style forehead protector and had short, brown hair. "I apologize Lord Hokage, but as the proctor from this point forward, will you allow me to take it from here?"

"By all means." Hiruzen nodded, acquiescing the spotlight to the newcomer.

Hayate nodded and rose to his feet before turning to face the genin. "Hello everyone, I'm Hayate Gekko." He began before trailing off into another short coughing fit. Naruto noticed he had dark marks under his eyes, but couldn't quite tell if they were natural or tired bags. "Before we move on, I'm afraid there's one last thing we need to do. Before we move on to the main event, we're going to have to hold a preliminary stage."

"Preliminaries?" Tenten questioned.

Hayate nodded. "Yes... there are a bit too many participants... the previous stages may have been too easy. According to the rules, we'll have to hold a preliminary in this kind of situation." Hayate answered the surprised genin. "As Lord Hokage explained earlier, there will be many VIPs who will come to see the final stage. As you can imagine, many of them may be pressed for time. We have a limited timeframe to hold the finals, and there's no telling how long the battles will last so we have to make certain only the best make it that far..." He trailed off, coughing into his hand before adding, "Anyway, anyone who isn't feeling well or who was intimidated by what we discussed here has this opportunity to back out. Please step forward if you aren't feeling confident."

"Psh." Naruto scoffed. '_Who in their right minds would throw in the towel after coming this far?_'

Two rows over, Kabuto raised his hand. "Umm, sorry but I think I'm going to bow out here."

'HUH?' Naruto gaped at the purple clad teen, this sentiment clearly shared by the other Konoha genin minus the older genin's own teammates, who glared at their comrade.

"What the hell, Kabuto? You're just backing down after coming this far?" The blond exclaimed.

Kabuto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm just not feeling my best right now... I hoped it would get better, but I haven't been able to hear since my scuffle with that Oto genin. I've already seen how that handicap can cost me." Naruto frowned at that, remembering how easily Kabuto had been captured in the forest.

"I've seen him before..." Hiruzen mused aloud, keeping quiet so that only the Jōnin around him could hear. "If I'm not mistaken, he dropped out during the finals during the last exam too... what's he thinking...?"

Anko frowned slightly before flipping through her clipboard, holding the records of all passing participants. "Kabuto Yakushi... this is the sixth time he's failed."

Hiruzen was clearly surprised by that information. "What kind of record is that?"

"He's never been anything more than a mediocre shinobi..." Anko assessed as she read over the gray haired teen's profile. "His grades were average and he took three tries to graduate. Despite being a genin for over 3 years, he's only completed 16 missions, 14 D-ranks and 2 Cs. There's nothing that stands out in his combat history either. Although..."

"Go on." The Hokage urged.

"Do you remember? The young boy who was found at Kikyo Pass?"

"I do... if I recall correctly, a Jōnin of the medical team brought back a child of the enemy who survived the battle. So... he's that child."

"All right, Kabuto Yakushi. You may leave." Hayate acknowledged. And with that, Kabuto turned and walked away, waving goodbye to Naruto and ignoring the disbelieving or contemptuous stares of the other genin. The proctor then added. "Ah, I forgot to mention, from this point forward the exam will consist of single battles. If anyone else wants to back out, now's the time."

"Hey, Naruto." Shikamaru whispered to the blond as he watched Kabuto leave. "You said he helped you out in the forest, right?"

The Rinnegan bearer rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... I say helped, but really he got taken out pretty quickly..."

"So in other words, he fell for a trap and took their attention off of you." Shikamaru guessed in a deadpan, getting a nod in response. He once more turned to Kabuto. Maybe it was just him being paranoid but... this on top of his previous failures? And how could a three year veteran is taken down so easily by someone a rookie, albeit a strong one, could deal with singlehandedly? Didn't he at least try to improve himself at all? Even he knew that if he had that track record, he'd have to buckle down or his life, not to mention his comrade's lives, would be at stake. Either he was one of the worst genin ever or there was something fishy going on with him. Unbeknownst to him, the Hokage was thinking the same thing.

"Is there anyone else who would like to retire?" Hayate paused to give the genin a chance to step forward. After waiting ten seconds and seeing no one make a move, he nodded, "Very well. Since we now have twenty participants the preliminaries will consist of ten matches, the winners of which will proceed to the third test. For this test as well as the final exam there are no rules; the battles will continue until one side is either dead, knocked out, or yields. If you find yourself losing and don't want to risk your life, I ask you to forfeit quickly." The sickly Jōnin explained, crossing his arms. "But if I decide that a winner has been clearly established, I'll step in. We don't want any unnecessary deaths. As for how the matches will be decided..."

Taking the cue, Anko held up a microphone. "Open it."

A curtain on the far wall opened to reveal an electric scoreboard. "This scoreboard will randomly generate the match ups for the following battles." He said, stopping to work through another brief coughing fit. "This may be a bit sudden, but let's begin the first match now." At that, the scoreboard came to life, lights dancing across its surface until it settled on two names.

Ino Yamanaka vs. Temari

Shikamaru grimaced at the sight. '_Right off the bat one of us is up against one of the most dangerous teams. This is such a drag..._'

Ino refused to be intimidated and pumped her fist confidently. '_This_ _is my chance to show Sasuke what I can do._'

Sakura gave her old friend a worried glance. '_Ino..._' She was now aware of just how poor of a kunoichi she'd been at Wave. While it may have been hell, now that it was over she'd glad she'd gone through that nightmare that those two ex Kiri residents called training and she was proud that she could truly call herself a ninja...

But Ino hadn't gone through any of that. Despite their rivalry, they had been friends once and they did still care about each other. Temari didn't seem like she'd ever been a fan girl like they'd been, and if she was Gaara's teammate she probably wasn't weak in any sense of the word... and Sakura was fairly certain she could have taken Ino on before her training. She couldn't help but fear for her rival.

This was going to be painful to watch.

Temari smirked as she sized up her opponent. Her fellow blonde seemed to be one of those kunoichi who prioritized their looks over their training. She had the lithe but unfit form of a civilian rather than the toned body of a deadly kunoichi. She really hated her type. Girls like her made kunoichi everywhere look bad. They were the reason so many believed so many males made better shinobi. She was going to enjoy this. '_This'll_ _be child's play._'

"All right, contestants come to the front. Everyone else please move to the balconies." Hayate commanded.

* * *

><p>The various shinobi made their way up the stairs on either side of the room until they all stood on the balconies overlooking the arena. The Konoha shinobi all stood on one side while the Ame and Suna ninja stood on the other. As Sakura leaned against the railing and looked down at the upcoming battle, she couldn't help but dread what was only seconds away. It clearly showed on her face because Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see him giving her an encouraging smile.<p>

"Hey, don't worry so much. I'm sure she'll be fine. I mean, she is your rival." Naruto said. "Worse comes the worse the proctors will step in, right?"

Sakura nodded but didn't respond, more realistic than the ever optimistic blond beside her. Asuma noticed and arched a brow as he looked at her, "Hey, what's got you so worried?" The Jonin asked. "Look, I know it might not seem like it, but Ino was the strongest kunoichi in your class. I'd say her chances are pretty good."

Neither her teammates nor the Jounin's words seemed to bring Sakura any comfort. "I don't think her odds are as good as you think... Yeah, she was stronger than me back then, but this isn't the academy. If Temari's as strong as I think she is..."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he examined the blonde opposing his teammate and quickly reached the same conclusion. He knew that despite Ino's confidence and how effective they were as a team, they were probably some of the weakest genin who'd made it this far individually. He sighed, "I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to go with Sakura on this one. Looks like the Sand Village's going to win this round."

"Is it that bad?" Chouji asked as he turned to Shikamaru, hoping that his blonde teammate had a chance. Seeing the look he gave him in response and trusting his oldest friend's judgement, he turned back to the arena, eating a potato chip in nervous anticipation. "I hope Ino will come out of this ok."

Asuma crossed his arms, confident in his student... even if he had left most of her training to her clan so far. It wasn't like he hadn't taught them anything; he'd just focused on other vital areas of shinobi life, like teamwork, perception and tactics. Still, he'd seen what she was capable of. "Well you all just hang back and watch. You might not have much faith in her, but as her teacher I can say-"

"Begin!" Asuma's confident grin fell as the sound of a scuffle broke out beneath them, followed by the sound of five blows ringing out along with an agonized cry before a final, heavier blow. Asuma blinked as a few moments of silence passed while Naruto grimaced and Sakura sighed and shook her head, looking at the arena with a pitying stare.

The fight could hardly even be called that. The moment that Hayate had declared that the match had started Temari shot forward, determined to put an end to the fight before she had to reveal any of her abilities. Ino had attempted to defend, revealing surprising speed almost on par with Temari's own, but her taijutsu was sorely lacking, little better than Sakura's had been two months prior and she was physically weak. Temari's skilled strikes clearly took their toll on her defenses.

Finally, Ino had to pull her left leg back to avoid a leg sweep from the other blonde, positioning her left arm away and raised her right to defend. This left her wide open when Temari's next strike directed said arm up, allowing Temari to strike at Ino's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to double over as all the air rushed out of her lungs.

The sand kunoichi didn't let up, pressing her advantage and delivering a series of punishing blows to her vulnerable spots, striking first at her kidneys, then when the pain forced her eyes closed, her knee, dislocating the joint and bringing out a cry of pain from the younger girl. Another strike to her neck left her gagging, followed by two blows to the torso and then a kick to the chin, sending Ino a few feet into the air. Temari then whipped around, grabbing her still close fan and using it as a club, slamming it into Ino's skull and swatting her out of the air like a bug, driving her face first into the ground and knocking her out.

Temari snorted and tilted her head, staring down at the unconscious blonde in contempt with a hand on her hip. "Was that all? Well that was pretty boring."

"I'm calling the match here. Winner: Temari."

"... Seriously? Damn." Asuma said, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. He could feel his father's eyes on him and knew he'd have some serious work ahead of him shaping his team up.

Shikamaru winced at his teammate's swift defeat. "Ah, man... I knew we should never have signed up for these troublesome exams..."

Beside him, Chouji had shrunk back, his expression a cross between fear and worry.

Sakura watched as the medics took Ino away, her face bloody as that final strike had broken her nose when she'd hit the ground. "Ino..."

Tenten pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "Ugh, that was painful to watch."

"If you could clear the arena, I would like to start the next match as soon as possible." Hayate said to Temari, who huffed and walked back to her team with a smirk. There was a few moments pause once she rejoined her team before the scoreboard once again come to life and soon settled on the next participants:

Shino Aburame vs. Rock Lee

* * *

><p><strong>Please review.<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey. I'd hoped to get this chapter out sooner, but I got side tracked trying to fix the plot for the current arc of Legends of Two Jinchuriki and rewriting a scene in the next chapter. Good news, I think it'd just about settled.**

**Just to let you all know, I've decided to keep the pairing Narutox Fuu and Yugito. With that said, let's move on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Lee pumped his fist and let out a whoop as the scoreboard showed his name, "Yahoo! I was afraid that I would have to wait until the very end for my match." He kicked the air in celebration. "But fortune has smiled on me and given me the second match!"<p>

Gai chuckled at his side. "Ah, the youth are never willing to wait for things to come to them." He then gave his student a thumbs up. "But such is the nature of youth! You can settle down and be patient once you go gray. Until then, keep those fires burning!" He said, throwing out his fist.

"Yes sensei!"

Naruto chuckled as he watched them before turning to his teammates and pointing to the pair with the oversized eyebrows. "You know, they may be a couple of goofballs but they I like their style."

Everyone around him, even Kakashi, looked at him like he was crazy. It was Sakura who voiced their thoughts with a flat, "I'm sorry, come again?"

"What? Don't you think it's funny how their like father and son? And it's nice that their sensei lets him know he's appreciated. Sure, they're a bit out there some times, but they seem like fun people."

After a few moments Sakura, with a hint of apprehension, said, "Uh, you're not going to follow their example... are you?"

Naruto scoffed, "No. I said I liked their style, I didn't say I'd wanted to be like them. Besides, I'm one of a kind. I'm not going to rip off someone else."

Sakura gave a sigh of relief and raised a hand to her forehead. "Thank kami..." She mumbled. Lee seemed all right, but she didn't think she could deal with that 7 days a week! She threw Tenten a pitying look, which noticed and gave her a thankful expression.

Gai leaned down, bringing up his hand and closing all but his index finger. "Now Lee, you know the basics of the Aburame clan, they are one of our most famous after all, so you know what to look out for, right?"

Lee seemed a little sheepish at the question and averted his gaze for a moment. "Um no... Do you have any advice Gai-sensei?"

Sakura perked up at that. '_Oh_. _Maybe this guy's more on the ball than he acts..._'

Gai's expression became deadly serious as he advised his pupil, "I'm fairly certain he's a member of our resident bug using clan, so be on the lookout for insects, alright?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

Sakura deflated. '_That's all? Guess not..._'

Tenten face palmed. '_Couldn't he have come up with something a little more helpful? And what does he mean 'fairly'? Hasn't he worked with them before?_'

"Then go for it, Lee! Show them all the power of your youth!" With that, the green clad boy leapt over the railing and quickly took his place on the far side of arena, shifting into his stance and smirking in anticipation as he awaited his opponent.

"Sheesh." Kiba said with a grimace before turning to Shino, who remained there with his hands in his pockets. "That guy might seem like a total goof, but if he's one of Neji's teammates you've got your work cut out for you." He briefly looked to Hinata, who fidgeted at the mention of her cousin. "Be careful."

"There's no need to tell me that. Why you ask? I'm always cautious, unlike someone I know." Shino replied in an emotionless tone, getting an annoyed grunt from Kiba.

As Shino slowly made his way to his place in contrast to his hotheaded opponent's more enthusiastic action, Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he observed the two as he remembered his bout with the older boy. '_In_ _pure taijutsu, he's definitely got an edge over me... I expect him to pass although...' his eyes turned to Shino as he reached his destination. 'I don't know the first thing about what Shino can do..._'

He knew the Aburame were one of the Four Noble Clans of Konoha, but he didn't know the first thing about them beyond that. Even among clans within the same village, shinobi didn't actively share their abilities so there weren't any records he could have accessed even if he cared enough to look, which he hadn't. The only other one of the four he knew anything about besides his own were the Hyuuga, and that was because their clans had been rivals since the founding of the village, though the Uchiha had had the edge until recent years. He probably would have heard about it second hand from someone who worked with members of the clan before... had it not been for Itachi.

Suppressing the urge to let the thought of his brother's deeds get to him, no point in dwelling on such far away things, he once more focused on the upcoming battle. '_Shino's_ _the heir to the Aburame if I remember right..._' Come to think of it, a lot of his classmates were also the heirs to their respective clans... strange coincidence. '_I know from the academy his taijutsu's nothing to scoff at. He shouldn't be a pushover. With any luck, they'll both put their all into this._'

"Do you think Shino will be alright?" Hinata asked Kiba worriedly.

Kiba gave her a confident grin. "Relax. Shino's a lot tougher than he looks."

"It is a privilege to be able to fight this early on. Please, show me why your sensei deemed it fit to nominate you even as a rookie." Lee told Shino.

"You needn't worry... I don't plan on losing."

"Now, we'll start the second match." Hayate said before eying both genin, gauging if they were ready. After a moment, he gave the command. "Please begin."

At the word of the proctor, Rock Lee shot forward, wasting no time and closing the distance between them before leaping into a spinning kick, aiming for the Aburame's face.

"Leaf Hurricane!" Shino raised his arm, blocking the blow at the very last second before leaping backwards as the taijutsu expert followed up with a low sweep of his leg. Lee pressed he advantage, moving forward and unleashing a barrage of kicks that pushed Shino back as he did his best to parry the attacks.

Soon enough however, the Aburame's guard slipped. Lee took to the air and brought his leg down in an axe kick that was too fast for him to dodge and too strong for him to block with the incomplete cross guard he'd managed to form. The blow struck him in the forehead, causing him to grunt and forcing his head down and knocking his forehead protector to clatter onto the floor. The moment that Lee's foot touched the ground, he continued his assault with a punch to the kidney, followed by a one-two shot to the face and finally a revolving kick that sent his foe sprawling onto the floor hallway across the arena and knocking off his sunglasses.

"Damn!" Kiba snarled from the balcony, surprised by the green clad boy's speed. "Shino might have to pull out his ace in the hole..."

"That'll probably be a sight to see." Naruto said crossing his arms. "But you know; Bushy Brow's probably got some aces up his sleeve too."

"Um..." Hinata began uncertainly. "Naruto." She said, getting his attention. She looked away briefly before returning her gaze to him with a blush. "Who do you think will win?"

"Me?" The blond replied before crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. Finally, he shrugged. "Eh, I'd have to put my money on Lee."

"And what makes you so sure Shino will lose." Kurenai asked, curious as to why the blond dismissed her student's chances. It would also give her a chance to see how he'd changed since his academy days. The whole of the village was well aware of his reputation.

Naruto turned to Team 8, still frowning, and gestured his head towards Rock Lee. "I saw him in action before the exams began. Beneath those bandages, his arms are beat up and covered in scars. The guy probably works himself to the bone every day to get like that." He looked back to the arena as Shino slowly rose to his feet, his head down, covering his face with shadows so that one couldn't see his exposed eyes. "He's been at this for a year longer than we have, and if he's gone at it like that the whole time, he's probably a lot stronger than he lets on. Plus, if he's got the drive to put that much work into training, then he's probably the kind of guy who'll settle for nothing less than the win. Shino strikes me as the more logical type. He'll do his best, but he'll cut and run if he doesn't think he can win and there's nothing at stake. Lee... he won't quit until he's given everything he's got and more."

Gai chuckled at Naruto's words, drawing their attention to him. "You're more right than you know. Lee's the type of person that will keep going, long beyond the point when anyone else would throw in the towel."

Down below, Shino reached out for his glasses before rising to his feet as he put them back on. He then slowly raised his head to look at his opponent.

Lee briefly recoiled in shock at the sight that greeted him when the Aburame's face could be seen again. "W- What!?"

There was an open wound on spiky haired boy's forehead, but rather than the red of blood or exposed muscle and sinew, the exposed area beneath his skin was alive with crawling black. The shadows moved out beyond the injury and on his pale flesh, their nature become clear.

"Bugs!?" 'What is this? There are bugs crawling beneath his skin!'

"What on earth!?" Sakura shouted with wide eyes in the stands.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared down at the arena. He briefly considered activating his Sharingan, but decided it wouldn't help.

Naruto's Rinnegan briefly burst to life and he was shocked by what they told him. '_The_ _bugs are feeding off his chakra! No, not just that... they're linked to him through it!_' Shino's chakra was... odd to say the least. It wasn't like any other chakra signature Naruto had encountered, but it wasn't corrupted like Orochimaru's. Naruto quickly attributed it to whatever jutsu let him control insects the way he did.

The veins around Neji's eyes bulged as his Byakugan, and for once the stoic boy displayed shock at what they told them. "This is... I'd always assumed that the clan of bug users I'd heard of summoned their insects from elsewhere... but they're actually living inside of his body."

The Aburame heir adjusted his sunglasses with his index finger as he stared at his opponent. "You shouldn't focus so much on your enemy... one should always be aware of their surroundings."

"What?" Lee asked in a perplexed tone, his eyes narrowed before he heard an odd clicking behind him. He turned just in time to see a three waves of insects shooting towards him, having hidden in the shadows of the room.

His expression a mask of shock, Lee back flipped away from the insects crawling towards rapidly moving towards him, moving faster than they and quickly putting some distance between them, only for more to appear from the opposite direction.

"Why?" Shino asked rhetorically as he extended his arm towards his opponent. "Your opponent might use your inattentiveness against you." Another swarm of insects burst from his sleeve.

The boy with the bowl cut found himself caught between three converging swarms of insects. Just as it seemed the fight might be over, he vanished from sight a moment before the insects could overtake him, reappearing in the air halfway across the arena, flipping and landing facing his opponent in a crouch, sweeping his leg out and bringing his arm up with his palm flat.

"Woah... where do all those things come from... there's no way they could all fit in his body!" Naruto exclaimed as he watched all the insects crawling across the floor.

"As creepy as this is... that's a really good question." Sakura said.

Sasuke frowned and shrugged as he came up with the most obvious answer. "They've gotta die some time, so they're probably breedi-..." The Uchiha heir trailed off as he froze, his eyes wide and his mouth agape in a look of shock and revulsion.

That expression was mirrored on the faces of all the other Konoha genin, even the stoic Neji. A moment of silence passed before they shuddered in unison.

"Let's just forget I ever brought it up..." Naruto suggested and was met with unanimous agreement.

"You may have an advantage over me in speed and strength, but our earlier bout has given me ample time to prepare this battlefield." The shadows around the arena began to crawl with Shino's declaration as their master picked up and reapplied his forehead protector before placing his hands back in his pockets. "My Kikaichu consume chakra. If they manage to overtake you, they might drain you dry before I can stop them. I suggest you forfeit."

Lee smirked as he rose up and righted himself. "You are right that at the moment, the odds seem stacked in your favor. However..." He brought his arm back up before his chest, slipping back into his stance. "You will find that I will not give up so easily."

Without another word, Shino sent a mental command and his insects obeyed, once more speeding towards Rock Lee, who jumped backwards, weaving around the swarm as best he could and trying to find an opening to get around the shifting mass of chakra hungry insects to get at their master when he once again sensed something behind him. He turned to see the ground behind him alive with insects, a mass of shifting dots cutting off any hope of escape.

'The way he controls those insects is kind of like Gaara's sand, though they're not half as dangerous.' Kankuro noted as he watched the Taijutsu expert do his best to evade the beetles chasing after the living feast that was their master's adversary.

Just when he seemed cornered, he vanished from view, reappearing behind the swarm and rushing towards their master. Shino raised his arm and deflected a kick with his arm before doing the same with Lee's follow up punches, only barely keeping up. Luckily for him, those three attacks were all his opponent had time for before the swarms were once again upon him, forcing him back.

As the swarm closed the distance between them, Lee once more vanished in a burst of motion, reappearing in the air directly before the Aburame, spinning into a kick aimed at his face. It would no doubt stun the boy and leave him wide open...

If it connected. Unfortunately for Lee, Shino was well aware he would try something like that. After all, from what he'd seen and learned from Kabuto's info cards, Lee fought exclusively with taijutsu, and in that he definitely had the edge. Which meant Shino would have to maintain close to mid-range and be ready to escape any attempt to force him into hand to hand combat to win.

Shino ducked under the kick and leapt backwards, raising his arm and unleashing another swarm from his sleeve. Lee was forced to disengage to escape the two sided attack that followed.

Shino directed both arms at the taijutsu expert, calling on more insects from his sleeves while summoning all his scattered insects to converge on Lee.

Lee smirked as he ran towards Shino before vanishing from sight in a burst of speed, reappearing in a crouch before the Aburame. A rising of Shino's brow was the only exclamation of shock he gave before he was launched into the air by a powerful kick to the chin by Lee.

"Is this it?" Sakura asked.

Kiba grinned. "Not by a long shot."

Lee reappeared in the air above Shino with his arm drawn back for a devastating punch aimed at Shino's face. Seeing his opponent was helpless, the taijutsu expert fully expected for this to be the end of the match. "This is the-" His fist literally plowed through Shino's face. "-what!?"

To Lee's shock, Shino's body fell apart into a mass of black which quickly enveloped him as he cried out, feeling the countless insects bite into his flesh and his body weaken as they drained his chakra.

"Lee!" Tenten exclaimed, surprised by this turn of events.

"When did he-?" Neji wondered, never having seen Shino weave a single hand seal.

"It's one of the benefits of the Aburame's jutsu." Kakashi spoke up as he watched Lee fall to the ground, where he was promptly swarmed on by the rest of the mass of beetles. "The insects they host within their bodies are bound to their will. They're so in tuned with their master's will that they can manifest a desired effect without the need of hand signs, as long as it's within their abilities of course."

Shino stepped out of the shadows on the far side of the arena as he watched Lee vanish beneath the swarm. He'd anticipated the boy's next move. After all, the whole arena was covered with his insects, what better place to attack him than in the air, where it would take more time for the beetles to reach them and he'd be defenseless against Lee's superior taijutsu skill. Of course, it worked both ways, if his insects caught him in the air, he'd be helpless to escape.

So he'd seallessly prepared a clone to take his place in the case that Lee did as he expected. The insurance the clone offered was appreciated as well.

"I did warn you that I held all the cards. If you can still form words, you should forfeit before my Kikaichu render you unconscious. If it comes to that, I can't guarantee your life."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. '_Is_ _this the best you can do after how you fought me?_'

Gai looked on stoically, believing in his pupil as his gaze focused on the black mass that covered Lee.

Beneath the beetles, Lee could feel his strength ebbing away along with his chakra. His limbs were growing weaker by the moment and already, he could barely stand under the weight of the insects that were latching on to him, each eager for their meal. '_I... I did not come this far to lose here!' He thought back to all the times he'd been mocked because he couldn't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. To all the people he wanted to prove himself to. 'Gai-sensei... I will prove that I here, in front of everyone that I am a splendid ninja!_'

He needed to do this quickly. In a few moments, he wouldn't have enough energy left to pull this off. He growled, ignoring the pain of the beetle's jaws pinching his skin as he channeled as much chakra as he could to his head, to one specific spot. '_First_ _Gate: Gate of Opening, open!_' He flooded his chakra into a specific point in his head and then one of his body's primary tenketsu, one of the eight which restricted the body to protect it force open like a bursting dam. He felt the chakra pulse through his body. He felt his muscles swell with new found strength as the limit on them was removed... but he lacked the energy to actually use it.

He had to work quickly. He was almost out of time! '_Second_ _Gate: Gate of Healing, open!_'

He felt his body revitalize as new energy flooded his system. To him, it almost seemed he was fresh into the battle, better even with the limits on his muscles removed, but he could tell his chakra was dangerously depleted. He had to end this before the boost from the two gates ran out.

He crossed his arms over his chest and with a cry of effort, burst free from the swarm, scattering a large number of the insects into the air though a fair number still clung to his body.

"What!?" This time Shino couldn't hide his shock as Lee crossed the arena in an instant, moving so fast that even the trained eye couldn't follow his movements.

"How did he...?" Sakura questioned as her teammates activated their respective dōjutsu.

"No way!" Kiba gripped the railing anxiously at this latest turn of events.

"That's..." Asuma's eyes narrowed as he recognized what he was looking at.

'So, Gai taught him how to use the that technique.' Kakashi thought.

"That's it, Lee! Let the fires of youth rage!" Gai cheered his student on.

Lee's movements were too fast for the Aburame and Shino quickly found himself on the receiving end of a kick to the chest... only for him to once more burst into a cloud of insects, but this time Lee shot away before they could swarm him.

"As I expected, you are still hiding behind these insects. If that is the case, then I will just have to drag you out!" Lee vanished from sight, a powerful gust of wind left in what was clearly his wake as he sped around the arena, scattering the insects as he plowed through them before finally, he senses, honed through his training with his sensei into a near pseudo-sensor level, and detected a presence hidden beneath the insects.

"There you are!" He unleashed a spinning kick at the shape, wincing as his prolonged usage of the gates began to wear on his body and the fatigue began to settle back in and the beetles he could shake off continued to drain his chakra. However, he'd found his target. With a grunt of pain, Shino was launched out into the open.

Lee vanished once more, reappearing beneath his opponent and delivered a high kick to the back of his head, disorienting him and sending him high into the air. Flipping and planning his feet on the ground before immediately kneeling into a crouch before disappearing from sight once more, reappearing behind Shino through the Dancing Leaf Shadow technique.

"This is the end!" Lee declared as the bandages around his arms unraveled and wrapped around his opponent too quickly for the bug user to make any move to counter. As soon as his opponent was secure they began to spin, faster and faster until their forms blurred and they resembled a drill. And then they sped towards the ground. "Primary Lotus!"

They slammed into the hard, unforgiving floor with enough force to kick up a massive cloud of dirt and debris, obscuring all to the results of the attack. On the balcony overlooking the arena Kiba grit his teeth as his hands tightened on the cold steel of the railings while Hinata covered brought her hands to her mouth, her expression displaying shock and worry.

She wasn't the only one clearly surprised by the impact. Most of the other genin aside from the green clad boy's teammates and the ever stoic Gaara were clearly stunned by the force of the impact. Sasuke had settled for a narrowing of his eyes as he awaited the damage from the powerful attack.

A second, quiet landing was heard, followed by almost immutable thud. The edge of the cloud cleared away, revealing Lee, collapsed on the ground and propped up on his left arm. His eyes were drooping from exhaustion and he was panting heavily, taking in heavy gulps of air as quickly as his lungs would allow. A few more moments passed and the damage was revealed. The large tiles had been shattered, black cracks spreading along the edges of a crater like broken glass and large chunks of stone had been uprooted, sticking up in the air or rent from their proper place. At the core of the damage lied Shino, resting in a hole at least a foot deep.

The beetles seemed to move around aimlessly for a moment before they all began trailing back to their master. Seeing the Aburame was unmoving, Hayate made his way over to check the boy. Detecting faint breathing, He rose and gestured towards Lee.

"Winner by knock out: Rock Lee."

In the balcony, Gai gave a literally sparkling smile and gave is pupil a thumbs up. "Atta boy, Lee!"

Lee turned to him and smiled triumphantly... or as close to triumphantly as he could manage in his weary state.

"Please leave the arena so that we can begin the next match." Hayate said as the medics came out to take the Aburame away. Lee got up on his feet, a little wobbly as his legs protested against lifting his body, pain shooting through his nerves and his knees nearly giving out with every step. Despite this, he shakily began making his way back to his team.

'_So that's what you're capable of..._' Sasuke mused as he watched Lee return to his team. 'What was that technique he used?' His Sharingan told him that the older boy was almost out of chakra, and yet he'd been able to fight at a far higher level than he had been at the beginning of the match, even if only briefly. He also didn't fail to notice that that was the technique he'd tried to use on him before the first test and it was with no small amount of irritation that he realized that if he had succeeded, he would have been out and his team therefore disqualified.

He couldn't help but notice that Lee's movements were hampered by a lot more than just fatigue. '_Whatever it is, it looks like that jutsu as a price._' He thought as his eyes faded back to their normal coal color.

Naruto's Rinnegan could see chakra more clearly than the Sharingan, so he had a better idea of what happened. He had seen two spots of chakra, which he guessed to be Chakra Points, which were normally invisible to his eyes, glowing radiantly enough to be clearly seen. One of the things that his sensei had forced his clones to read through time and time again, not that he complained about it anymore, was information on chakra, including the Chakra Network. It took him a few moments to remember one obscure bit of knowledge he'd taken in and realize what happened. '_Bushy_ _Brow forced open two of the Eight Gates! I didn't even know you could do that!_'

The Eight Gates. Eight specific Chakra Points that, rather than acting as nodes along the pathways and points from which chakra could be released as like the rest of their kind instead acted as limiters, restricting the bodies capabilities to the highest it was capable of without damaging itself. '_No_ _wonder he's in bad shape!_'

"Damn it!" Kiba snarled, pounding his fist against the railing.

"Shino..." Hinata whispered.

"Are you really that surprised by this outcome?" Neji said; leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "While I'll admit that Shino is a skilled shinobi, he's still only a rookie. It can only be expected that he would lose against a shinobi with greater experience. His fate was determined the moment Lee was chosen as his opponent."

"What's that?" Kiba glared at the Hyuuga while Hinata shrank slightly, knowing why her cousin felt that way.

"You didn't honestly believe that anything else could happen, did you?" Neji questioned. "Every other shinobi here has spent at least a year honing their abilities, while you three are fresh out of the academy. Your senseis overestimated your abilities if they thought putting you forward were a good idea. This is all that awaits you, defeat. Just like him, and like Ino."

That bought him a few glares from the rookies and a shake of the head from his sensei.

* * *

><p>"Well, glad we won't have to deal with that guy." Kankuro said with a single eye open as he, his siblings and his sensei watched as the Aburame was hauled off of the arena on a stretcher. "He could have caused some serious problems for the Crow." 'Not to mention that the way he used those insects reminded me way too much of Gaara's sand.'<p>

Temari placed her hand on her hip. "They didn't seem like much to me. Outside of that last attack, the kid's taijutsu wasn't all that great, and a little pest problem wouldn't have given me much trouble."

They turned their attention to the scoreboard as it revealed the next combatants.

Hinata Hyuuga vs Kagari

Across the arena, Hinata saw the scoreboard and then looked away, timidly bringing her fingers together.

"Looks like you're up, Hinata." Kiba said to her with a grin. "Show them what you're made of."

Hinata nodded and began her trek down to the arena. Kurenai watched as her pupil stepped down the stairs. 'You have nothing to fear, Hinata. You've grown a lot since over the past few months. Now, show everyone how you've changed.'

"Heh, lucky you. Looks like an easy one." Oboro said to his teammate. "The Hyuuga are supposed to be tough, but this one looks like a pushover."

"Yep, looks like this one's in the bag. Just how I like it." Kagari said before leaping over the railing to land in the arena.

As the two stood across from each other, Kagari said, "You might as well give up now."

Hinata seemed to hesitate for a moment before her eyes hardened, determined to prove herself.

"And... begin!"

Kagari immediately threw a series of shuriken at the girl, who docked under them and ran through hand seals and she ran towards him.

'Byakugan!' The veins around her eyes bulged as her white eyes shifted, the outline of her pupils appearing as the dōjutsu activated.

Kagari leapt back and threw more kunai, but Hinata predicted the action and easily weaved around the attacks as she closed the distance between them.

"Like I'm going to let you get close to me." Making a hand seal, Kagari sunk into the ground as if it were water and vanished without a trace.

Hinata stopped and tensed, falling into the Gentle Fists fighting stance; her left foot extended forward while her right leg bent at the knee, one hand held just below her torso while her left palm was held forward. Her Byakugan allowed her to follow Kagari's movements, seeing the coils of his chakra network move through the ground without moving a muscle. It was common sense that such a technique would be useless if he couldn't sense what was happening above ground.

When she saw him preparing to surface, she immediately shot off towards him a moment before he began to rise from the stone tiles. Kagari immediately threw three sets of kunai, each pair connected to one another via a thin, almost invisible wire meant to trip up anyone who tried to dodge them. He hoped this would give him the time needed to make decisive move...

But Hinata easily perceived the wires and leaped over the kunai entirely, landing directly before Kagari. Hinata immediately began to throw a series of Gentle Fist attacks his way. Hinata was fast, but Kagari proved equally adept at taijutsu and the pair began exchanging blows.

Kagari brushed aside several of her finger strikes and tried to counter with his own blows, but Hinata's eyes allowed her to see every attack coming, allowing her to deflect or dodge every one. Ducking beneath a sweeping kick she gave him two quick blows to his leg, causing Kagari growl in pain as her chakra tore through his chakra network and damaged his calf muscles, followed by a single hit to the kidney before he jumped back.

Feeling the pain radiating from his newly damaged organ and feeling a dull ache in his leg and knowing it weakened, Kagari knew he needed to put some distance between himself and his opponent, but it was not to be. Hinata was already closing the distance and with his wounds he wasn't able to get away. He knocked away another strike to the torso only to receive one to his arm in its place. Hinata kicked, aiming for his wounded side. Kagari wasn't able to dodge, the blow unbalancing him and leaving him wide open to a strike to his chest, damaging his lung and causing him to cough up blood. You couldn't see it due to the re breather, but the metallic taste on his tongue was unmistakable.

Kagari clutched his chest, continuing to cough as his left lung spasmed. He was left defenseless as Hinata pressed forward, striking him two more times in the stomach then once in the center of the torso, the final blow having enough force to send him flying back and sprawling on the floor as he tried to catch his breath. Hinata relaxed her stance and watched.

"Whoa..." Naruto said, blinking as he watched Kagari struggle to get up. "I knew that the Hyuuga's fighting style was tough, but the way she took him down..."

"The Hyuuga aren't the most powerful clan in the village for nothing." Kakashi spoke up behind them, who had taken out his book, the sight of which caused Sakura to glare briefly at the offending orange novel. "The Byakugan allows the user to see the Chakra Network. A powerful enough user can see even the Chakra Points, both of which are the Sharingan's sight. It also boasts 360 vision. Those abilities together have made them some of the most dangerous taijutsu users in all the nations."

"So that's what the Hyuuga are capable of..." Sasuke mused. He'd heard Kabuto's statement of their abilities, but actually seeing it... "I never would have guessed someone so timid had that kind of power."

"Um..." Hinata began as she watched her opponent. "Y- You should forfeit now. You shouldn't be able to get back up after that last attack..."

Up in the stands, Neji narrowed his eyes at his cousin, infuriated how fate decreed that such a meek girl would be the heiress of their clan.

"L- Like hell I'm going to..." Kagari broke off into another coughing fit as he tried and failed to get back up.

Hayate watched this for a moment before deciding. "I'm calling the match here. Winner: Hinata!"

"Nice going, Hinata!" Kiba called from his place.

As Hinata returned to her teammate, Naruto called out, "Good job, Hinata. You kicked ass out there." The Hyuuga heiress blushed and smiled, pushing her fingers together.

Sakura blinked at Hinata's reaction and smirked. "Looks like you have a fan, Naruto." She said to her teammate, eliciting a confused "huh?" from the oblivious blond.

Kurenai smiled at her student. "You did well, Hinata. You should be proud to make it this far." The heiress nodded in acceptance of the praise.

"Ah, looks like you're up, Sakura." Naruto said, pointing at the board. Following the blond's gaze, Sakura saw that her match was indeed up.

Sakura Haruno vs Tenten

Gai chuckled as he watched the pair of kunoichi make their way to the floor. "Well, it looks like this is the end of the road for your student." He said before turning to his rival. "She did well to make it this far but... well; you've got to run out of luck sometime, eh Kakashi"

Kakashi blinked and looked up from his book. "Hm? You say something, Gai?"

Gai's eye twitched before he turned his back on his rival, clenching his fist before his chest and gritting his teeth as his face turned red with frustration. 'Why do you always have to act so cool!?'

Sakura stood across from Tenten on the arena floor.

"Take her down, Sakura!" Naruto cheered.

"Use the power of youth, Tenten!" Gai cried.

Lee gripped the rail anxiously as his eyes shifted uncertainly between his teammate and his crush. '_Who... who am I supposed to root for?_'

"Let's have a good match, Tenten." Sakura said with a confident smile, an look of determination covering her features.

Tenten smirked as she nodded, remembering what the pink haired girl had told her of her not so impressive career thus far. "Let's see just how much you've changed since getting that headband." She certainly didn't look like she was a fan girl anymore. Two months of hellish training and actually eating like someone who wasn't a penniless street urchin had done a lot for her body, giving her the tone expected of a kunoichi.

"4th Match... Begin!"

Sakura immediately shot forward, running through hand signs. "Earth Style: Rock Shuriken!"

Chunks of the sharpened stone burst from the tiles and flew through the air towards Tenten, who leapt into the air to dodge. Those however, were merely a distraction as Sakura immediately pulled out several of her poisoned senbon and threw them at the bun haired girl, who barely managed to twist her body out of the path of the deceptively devastating weapons.

She flipped as she continued through the air and fell towards Sakura in an axe kick, which the pink haired girl dodged by jumping to the left. Bringing more senbon to her hands and throwing three from her left hand while keeping the three more on her right, held between her fingers in claw like fashion.

Tenten ducked under the needles and threw three shuriken of her own from her pouch as Sakura reached into her own and grabbed a kunai. The weapon mistress let the ninja stars fly as Sakura flipped her kunai into a reverse grip, weaving around two stars and reflecting the third with her dagger before she ran towards her foe.

Tenten pulled out a scroll and in a moment, the upper half of her body was obscured by a cloud of smoke. In an instant, she charged out with a halberd, just one of the countless weapons she'd learned to wield.

Sakura grimaced, knowing she couldn't pull back. She knew that weapon, combined with Tenten's skill, would give her the edge. She was proven right when they clashed. The halberd gave Tenten greater reach as she swiped at Sakura the moment she was in range.

Sakura ducked under the attack and lashed out with her kunai, only for her arm to be knocked to the side by the staff of Tenten's weapon. She bent to the side of avoid and upward thrust of the weapon and spun with a kick that Tenten once more parried. This began a fast paced exchange between the two as Sakura quickly found herself on the defensive, retaliating when she could but mostly weaving around Tenten's blows, the range and the force behind them making Tenten's attacks all but impossible to deflect with a mere kunai.

Sakura leapt back to avoid a kick and Tenten retaliated by making several stabs at her that Sakura twisted around before ducking when Tenten swung the blade in a wide arc.

"Pretty good so far, but if that's all you've got you should just forfeit now." Tenten said as she stabbed at her opponent.

"I'm just getting started!" Sakura once again got in close and jabbed at Tenten with her senbon, only for her to dodge or parry each attack before finally slipping the staff under Sakura's arm and pulling it up at her elbow, trapping her arm and leaving her open as she kneed her in the stomach.

Sakura bent forward and coughed but immediately retaliated with her kunai. Tenten dropped down both to dodge and two sweep Sakura's feet out from under her, pulling her weapon forward to pull Sakura to the ground and pin her, but Sakura managed to put her palms on the ground and pushed off the ground, freeing her from Tenten's grip. In the air, she spun around and threw her Senbon, which Tenten jumped to dodge.

As Sakura landed, Tenten spun around and extended her leg. "Leaf Whirlwind!"

Sakura managed to raise her arm and block the attack, but the force of the blow still sent her back several feet. Sakura retaliated by channeling chakra into her legs and launching herself at Tenten with surprising speed, her arm bent and ready to punch her. Tenten blocked the blow, intending to use Sakura's momentum against her, but the force behind the blow sent her flying. Gritting her teeth, she threw the halberd like a spear which Sakura narrowly dodged at such a range. As it was, she lost several dozen strands of her long pink hair.

Tenten jumped high into the air the moment her feet touched the ground and pulled out another scroll. Sakura the moment Sakura saw the scroll, she threw her kunai and began running through hand signs. Tenten knocked the weapon aside with her hand and in a burst of smoke, dozens of weapons of various types; shapes and sizes were hurtling towards Sakura.

The younger kunoichi was unable to dodge and was skewered by the various blades... or at least she seemed to be before she disappeared in a cloud of smoke, replaced by a log.

"Substitution, huh?" Tenten questioned before she turned to see Sakura approaching from behind. "Way too easy!" She spun n her heel around, seeming to drag her arms through the air and threw them out at the pink haired kunoichi. The weapons followed her movement and Sakura's eyes widened when she saw that they were connected to Tenten's fingers with wires. She immediately leapt back to put as much distance between them as she could and reached into her pouch, throwing down a smoke bomb.

The weapons vanished into the resulting black cloud and as Tenten directed them towards the last place she saw Sakura and heard a series of metallic clangs. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Sakura had summoned an arc shaped stone barricade to defend herself, which was now impaled by Tenten's weapons.

"Hiding behind a wall, huh?" Tenten thought aloud before she ran towards it. Six steps forward however, and the stone tiles suddenly burst out beneath her. "What?!"

Before she began to leap back, only for a familiar hand to reach out and grab her ankle. Before she could do anything other than make an exclaim of shock, she was dragged down and into the dirt, buried up to her neck.

For a moment, the arena was quiet and Tenten made a few grunts as she futilely struggled to move and free herself from the earth's embrace before Sakura tore out of the ground before her. She walked forward towards the buried girl and couching down before smiling and giving Tenten a victory sign.

"Sorry Tenten. Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu."

"Winner: Sakura Haruno."

Naruto grinned widely, raising his fist into the air. "Yeah, way to go Sakura!"

Kakashi didn't say anything, but of his eye smile showed he was glad his student passed.

While Gai stared down at the arena in shock, Lee proceeded to congratulate the combatants as best he could without taking sides. "Great match, both of you!"

Sakura pulled Tenten from the stone, using her jutsu to weaken the stone before tearing through it and grabbing her by the shoulders. Once her arms were free, Tenten helped drag herself the rest of the way out. "Nice moves back there, Sakura. Pretty good for a former fan girl."

Sakura laughed and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Thanks, but I've still got a long way to go. Can you really use all those weapons as well as you did that halberd?"

"Yep! I had to work really hard at it. Aren't they just amazing? There are so many different types and so many ways you can use them! Not to mention the hard work that goes into them!" Tenten nodded and gave an ecstatic smile and stars in her eyes. She brought her fists before her chest in determination and excitement. "It's a dream of mine to master every weapon out there!"

"Wow, a regular aficionado, huh? Sounds like you're as enthusiastic about weapons as Lee is about... well, everything."

"Ah!" Tenten jerked to a stop, her eyes widened into pure white orbs as she turned to stare at Sakura, shivering slightly. "Y- You don't really think I act like them at all, do you?"

Seeing how well the older kunoichi took the idea, Sakura put on a somewhat hesitant smile. "Hey, it's good to have a passion, right?"

Tenten suddenly gripped her cheeks, going blue in the face and panicking. "Oh kami, they're rubbing off on me! What do I do!? W- What if it's just starting!? What if I start I going to start wearing green spandex and screaming about youth!?" The resulting mental picture caused Tenten to have a complete mental breakdown, pulling at her hair as a look of utter horror and despair crossed her features.

A bead of sweat rolled down Sakura's face as she watched Tenten freak out. 'S- should I say something?'

Tenten finally sighed and slumped, before she somewhat recovered as they reached the stairs. "But my greatest dream is to become a legendary kunoichi like Tsunade."

"Really?" Sakura blinked before frowning. She briefly thought about her own dreams and her earlier discussion with Haku. She'd grown beyond just wanting to make her father proud, but... she still didn't have a dream of her own, really. All her training up until now had been to keep from letting Naruto and Sasuke down and being dead weight like she had been before Wave. "I don't have any kind of dream of my own right now..." 'Aside from winning Sasuke's heart. CHA!' "I wonder if I should be aiming for something..."

They were received by Tenten's team first, as they were closer to the stairs. Despite his student's loss, Gai smiled at the two genin. "That was a good fight, you two. Tenten, you may have lost but you did splendidly." He clenched a fist to his chest, a look of excitement and pride on his face. "And to not only show such good sportsmanship, but to forge bonds of friendship in the aftermath of a battle of wills, truly your flames of youth burn brightly!" He cried, and one could see another unbreakable genjutsu, this one of roaring flames manifesting behind him.

"Um... yeah. I think I'm more concerned about some other flames." Tenten deadpanned with a bead of sweat rolling down her head, a reaction mirrored by Sakura beside her and all the other Konoha shinobi present.

"Yes! Truly strengthening bonds through a mighty meeting of fists is a beautiful sight. The sign of a strong heart!" Lee agreed with his sensei.

"That's right Lee! You and Neji should aspire to their example."

"Neji, when we fight-" Lee began only to be cut off by said white eyed boy.

"Ignoring the fact that they were already acquainted, the only things exchanged in battle are bruises."

"As always, it appears that Neji has yet to come into his springtime of youth." Gai said, shaking his head and clearly disappointed.

With a nod to Tenten, Sakura made her way back to her team and was met with a high five from Naruto.

Sasuke closed his eyes with a smirk. "I knew you'd win this one, Sakura."

Sakura smiled at the praise from her crush but didn't gush over it, knowing that would probably annoy him. Instead, she pumped her fist in victory and said, "Looks like I'm the first one to pass."

"Yeah, just wait a bit. Sasuke and I'll join you in the winner's circle soon enough."

Sakura took on a mock stern look, placing her hands on her hips. "You better. It'd be a pain if I was the only one to represent Team 7 in the finals."

Naruto grinned in response. "No need to worry about that. This'll be wrapped up before you know it."

"No doubts there." Sasuke said before the scoreboard sounded again. Looking at it, he frowned. "Hn. Looks like somebody just crapped out." That drew the attention of his teammates, who's eyes widened when they saw the next match up.

Chouji Akimichi vs Neji Hyuuga

Chouji shrunk down, gripping the railing tightly. Beside him, Shikamaru shook his head and put a comforting hand on his intimidated friend's shoulder. "Ouch. Tough luck, Chouji."

Chouji groaned, sounding to all like a condemned man being dragged to the guillotine. Nothing he had seen of Neji suggested he was someone you wanted to get into a fight with, and seeing how the kind and gentle Hinata had taken down that Ame ninja did not do his confidence any favors. "I think I'm just gonna forfeit..."

"Hey now, don't tell me you're not even going to try." Asuma said, leaning forward with his arms crossed.

"Why bother? I'm just going to get creamed."

"You don't know that for sure. I think you've got a better chance than you think."

"I don't see how."

"Ah." Asuma sighed and shrugged his shoulders, looking away and running his hand through his hair. "Well, I suppose I can forget about that congratulatory barbeque dinner I was planning on taking you to."

"Barbeque." Chouji perked up slightly.

"Yeah, I was going to take you all out for your favorite to celebrate you making it this far." He closed his eyes and tiled his head. "But if you're just going to back out after making it this far then..."

"But that's..."

"And it's not like anything could happen. I mean, that's why the proctor and the rest of us Jōnin are here."

"Well... I mean, I guess I could try..." Chouji said uncertainly.

Asuma gave him a knowing smirk. "That's the spirit. Now get down there and show them what you're made of."

Chouji nodded and headed down to the arena. After he passed, Shikamaru glared at his sensei. "That was low, Asuma-sensei."

He shrugged. "What? It's not like you haven't done the same thing in the past."

"Yeah, when it's good for him. Somehow, I don't think walking face first into a beat down is in anyone's best interest."

* * *

><p>Chouji and Neji stood across from each other, Chouji looking very nervous while Neji simply frowned slightly.<p>

Seeing the Akimichi needed some encouragement, Naruto cried, "Hey fatass get it in gear and quit acting like such a baby!"

Instantly, Chouji's demeanor changed, his expression shifting to rage as a growl left his throat. "Naruto! You better watch yourself because you're next after I smash this guy!"

Naruto chuckled then noticed his teammates looking at him. "What? If he's going to fight he might as well give it his all. You never know what might happen."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I think it's pretty obvious what's going to happen here."

Neji sighed, seeing any chance to talk down his adversary was lost in his enraged state, which means now he'd actually have to waste his time fighting his opponent. Ah well, either way, their fates had already been determined the moment their names appeared on the board.

"5th match... begin!"

Chouji immediately leapt backwards and began running through hand signs. Neji charged forward to stop him, but was just a moment too late. "Expansion Jutsu!"

Chouji's torso and stomach burst out, swelling to enormous size in an instant as the white eyed boy reached him. Neji landed multiple strikes to Chouji's bulk the moment he was in range, but the attacks did nothing and he cursed and jumped back. '_Damn. His size is protecting him. My chakra can't penetrate deep enough to damage his organs._'

The Akimichi heir pulled tucked his arms and legs into his body began to spin, his form quickly blurring until he resembled a giant ball to the naked eye. "Human Boulder!"

He shot towards Neji, who fell into the Gentle Fist stance, his posture stronger and more rigid than his cousin's as Chouji approached. '_If_ _his bulk shields his from damage, then there's only one option._'

Neji too began to spin, revolving on his heel before his chakra engulfed him, forming a rapidly revolving blue dome. "Eight Trigrams: Rotation!"

Hinata gasped. Taking a step back. '_I- it can't be! That techniques is..._' If he managed to recreate that technique on his own... just how strong was he?

Chouji slammed into the dome and for a moment, the two spheres warred against one another before suddenly there was an explosion, a black cloud of debris obscuring the result of the clash. A moment passed before the Akimichi heir burst from the cloud, his body returned to its initial form. He bounced off of the ground a few times before rolling to a stop, groaning as he lay face up on the ground, clearly alive but unmoving.

Naruto's purple eyes were wide behind his sunglasses. "Damn, what was that?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed, wanting to know the same thing.

"E- Eight Trigrams: R- Rotation." Hinata spoke up, causing all the Konoha genin to look at the heiress. Kurenai gave her a concerned look when she saw how Hinata had shrunken into herself. "I- it's a defensive technique of my clan. B- But it's usually only taught to the Main Branch... h- he must have recreated the technique himself."

Naruto frowned in curiosity. "Main Branch?"

Lee was the one to answer him. "Yes, the Hyuuga clan is divided into two houses, the Main Branch who leads the clan, and the Branch Family who exists to protect them and safeguard their Bloodline. In general, the Branch Family serves the Main Branch but... in recent years; there has been bad blood between the two houses."

"I don't get it." Naruto admitted, sounding a bit like his old self before he continued, "I mean, what's the point? How does dividing the family help protect the Byakugan? From the sound of it, the Branch Family isn't taught any special moves to help protect the rest and they have the Byakugan too."

Hinata's expression suddenly became troubled, her eyes turning down and then to the side as she wrung her hands together. Kurenai placed her hand on her shoulder, but it did little to comfort her, causing Naruto's frown to deepen.

After a few moments, Hayate was sure Chouji wouldn't get up. "Winner: Neji Hyuuga."

"Well... that could have gone worse." Shikamaru commented before his eyes were drawn to the entrance as a certain blonde re-entered the room.

Ino had finally returned after her rather humiliating defeat at the hands of Temari. As soon as she saw her downed teammate, who was struggling to get back up, she rushed over and helped him.

"I- Ino?" Chouji muttered, hoping his head would stop spinning.

"You know anyone else who looks this good? Come on; let's get you back to Asuma-sensei." She said as she hefted his arm over her shoulder to support him. "Good job, Chouji."

"Were you watching the match? I didn't stand a chance."

"Maybe, but you tried."

When they reached the other Konoha genin, Shikamaru raised his arm in greeting. "Hey, about time you got back, Ino. You missed a lot."

Ino glared at him and raised a clenched fist. "Know what else I missed? You helping your oldest friend back up here. I wonder why?"

The Nara just shrugged unapologetically. "It's not like you didn't have it covered."

The blonde growled before sighing and letting it go. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Oh only about half of these troublesome preliminaries including your rival's match, nothing much."

"Oh and how'd you do?" Ino asked as she turned to Sakura.

Sakura grinned at the prospect of one upping her rival, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side. "Let me put it this way, I'm in the finals."

Ino blinked in surprise before shaking her head as she remembered the fight in the forest. "Well congrats, billboard brow. You deserve it." Sakura giggled before Ino turned back to her teammates with a fire literally burning in her eyes. "We've got to catch up to them! I refuse to be left behind!"

Shikamaru gave a suffering sigh. '_I knew it. This is gonna be such a drag..._'

Naruto Uzumaki vs Oboro

'_Lucky. Payback time._' Oboro thought, grinning behind his re-breather, not that you could see it.

"Looks like it's your turn, Naruto." Sakura said to the blond.

"It's about time." Naruto grinned he said before frowning. "But who the hell is Oboro?" He then noticed said boy walking down the stairs and smirked before punching his fist into his palm. "Oh, one of those guys. Heh, looks like this one's in the bag."

"Bold words when you already took down their whole team." Sasuke remarked as he watched Oboro make his way to the proctor.

"What?" Kiba voiced his disbelief. "You're telling me the dead last took out an entire team on his own? Pfft, I'll believe that when I see it."

"Then try not to blink!" Naruto replied before leaping over the railing.

Naruto stood across from Oboro, grinning confidently as he waited for the proctor to begin the match.

"I'm gonna whip that grin off your face and make you pay for almost costing us these exams." Oboro growled.

"What, you mean kicking your asses after that craptastic ambush you pulled on me? You guys are doing a bang up job of screwing this up without me helping you."

"And... Begin."

Having had his team beaten by the blond previously, Oboro knew that trying to confront the blond at close range was a bad idea, but he had already worked out a plan to deal with him.

Naruto immediately kicked off the ground to get into close range while Oboro jumped back and quickly formed the dog and then tiger seals. "Ninja art: Fog Clone Jutsu!"

Oboro was enveloped in a burst of smoke, causing Naruto to halt and reverse direction, retreating to a safe distance to observe the effects of Oboro's jutsu. His Rinnegan blazed to life beneath his glasses to discern weather the clones were tangible or more similar to the basic clone jutsu. In a second, it vanished to reveal 30 clones of the Ame genin, all of whom were drawing their kunai and moved to surround their opponent. The copies appeared to Naruto's eyes as masses of pure blue, telling him the clones lacked any real substance. However, he quickly noted that the real Oboro wasn't among them.

Naruto grinned as the copies approached. "A clone jutsu? That's the best you can come up with?"

"Are those solid or...?" Sakura asked in the stands.

"No, they're just basic clones." Sasuke answered her.

'_The real one is most likely hiding amongst them..._' Neji thought to himself as he activated his dōjutsu and immediately seeing the real Oboro's chakra was underground. He smirked slightly, amused at the enemy's ploy and curious of how Naruto would counter it. '_Oh, so that's how it is..._'

Ten of the clones leapt into the air and threw their kunai while ten more on the ground seemed to do the same. On instinct, Naruto dodged the kunai and made the tiger hand seal as the clones surrounded him, vanished in a burst of smoke as five of the clones converged on his location. For a few moments, Naruto was nowhere to be seen and the various and the various clones swept their gaze around the room, looking for where the blond had hidden. Then, suddenly, the blond reappeared, hovering upside down in the air with his back turned to his enemies, holding two Demon Wind Shuriken. He flipped in mid-air and threw the weapons at his opponent's one after the other.

The oversized ninja stars cut through the air and sailed through the clones, meeting no resistance. The clones swayed slightly, seemingly affected by the weapons passing as reeds are by the wind, but were otherwise unaffected and charged after their opponent again as the blond landed.

The blond called two kunai to his hands and threw them into the crowd, the weapons fazing through the approaching clones like anything else. Seals appeared on the weapons surface before they detonated in the midst of the clones, creating a new crater in the arena and concealing the hoard within the resulting smoke. But within moments, the clones all leapt from the cloud and descended on Naruto, landing all around him and charging him from multiple angles.

Naruto dodged to the right as the first clone lunged at him with a kunai and brought his knee up, only for it to phase through the copy. Another copy came at him from the side and swiped a kunai over his head. He ducked down, planting his right hand on the ground before lashing out with his leg in a sweeping kick, only for the attack to sweep faze through the clones.

"Tch, idiot. He's obviously hiding in the clones. He never should have let himself get surrounded like that." Kiba said dismissively, earning a brief glare from Hinata who activated her Byakugan. After a moment, her eyes widened before she smiled, drawing the attention of Kurenai who wondered what she saw.

Naruto continued to fight the clones, avoiding their attacks and attacking only for his blows to faze through them. Then, three of them through kunai from different directions, all aimed at his head and the blond ducked down to dodge, only for another Oboro to attack from behind, suddenly appearing from the crowd of duplicates with a kunai held high in both his arms. Naruto turned just in time to see the weapon coming down.

The weapon plunged into Naruto's back and drove him to the ground. In the stands, Sakura cried her teammate's name as Oboro grinned. "Got you, you stupid punk." ... only for him to burst into smoke a moment later. "Huh?"

"That was my line!" Naruto's voice called out from one of the corners of the room. In the direction of the voice, one of the discarded Demon Wind Shuriken burst into smoke to reveal the smirking blond who made a one handed seal.

In an instant, a seal tag appeared on the ground where Naruto had placed his hand earlier, glowing blue before four additional tags burst from its surface and attached themselves to his arms and legs. "What?"

Looking at the beads now wrapped around his limbs, he failed to see Naruto shoot forward. "Sealing Technique: Spiritual Discord!" He slammed his palm into Oboro hard enough to send him sailing through the air. When he hit the ground, he slid slightly before coming to a stop. His clones faded away, their forms distorting from the feet up as if they were smoke until nothing remained.

"Damn it." Oboro groaned as he rose to his feet. He immediately knew something was wrong. His chakra was slow to respond to his will and molding it was nearly impossible. "What the hell did you do to me?"

Naruto grinned as he stood up straight, pumping his fist in victory and resting his hand on his elbow. "Ha! You fell for it hook, line and sinker! I knew I'd never get a shot at you as long as you hid within those clones, so I needed to draw you out, and I knew there was only one thing I could use as bait. You must usually go up against some pretty sorry excuses for ninja if stunts like that took you this far." He pointed at Oboro. "That's a sealing jutsu that screws with your chakra flow; I bet you could barely pull off academy level techniques right now."

It also happened to be the same technique he used on the Oto genin. They were actually fairly easy to remove provided you had the chakra and control for it. A Jōnin, let alone Orochimaru, would tear through them like the paper the tags were made of but for a genin of Oboro's level removing them on his own was hopeless as he quickly found out.

Oboro attempted in vain to remove the seals and then tried to use his Earth Style: Underground Projection Fish technique, only to find that the ground refused to yield to his command. He leapt back as Naruto shot forward and drew his kunai in a reverse grip. "Bastard!"

Naruto ducked under a swipe of his kunai and dodged to the left to avoid a kick, catching Oboro's leg only to let go when he tried to stab him with the kunai. After a brief exchange of taijutsu, Naruto caught Oboro's arm at the wrist and pulled him down, slamming his knee into his masked face. The blond didn't let up, delivering a blow to Oboro's pancreas followed by one to his solar plexus that caused him to double over.

Naruto gripped his wrist and jabbed his elbow, forcing him to let go of his kunai before kicking him in the face, sending him sailing through the air and sprawling on the floor unconscious.

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki."

"Geez, way to give me a heart attack..." Sakura complained before brightening up and cheering, "Great job, Naruto!"

"Huh, guess he's not all talk after all." Kiba mused. "He played that guy like a fiddle from the moment he pulled out those clones." He smirked and looked down at the dog, which turned his head to meet his master's gaze. "We're not going to let the dead last show us up, right Akamaru?" The tiny dog barked in response.

'That was pretty impressive.' Tenten thought as the blond neared the stairs. Rather than his performance during the fight, which was good, what she focused on most however was the kunai he used during the fight. 'He engraved his own custom seal into the kunai...' Her expression dropped somewhat and she felt the urge to bang to her head against a wall, an impulse she'd had frequently thanks to her two bowl haired teammates. 'Ugh, I feel like a dumbass for never thinking of that. Still... I just might have to try it...'

Neji's eyes narrowed, slightly frustrated. He hadn't learned anything in that fight he hadn't already known. While he didn't think much of the blond, his dōjutsu was a curiosity.

Hinata fidgeted nervously as Naruto approached, walking with a grin and his hands behind his head. "Um... Congratulations, Naruto. I knew you'd win. I never doubted for a second."

Naruto stopped and smiled at the white eyed girl. "Thanks, Hinata. Same here, I knew you could take that guy hands down."

Hinata blushed again at the praise. "It... it wasn't that impressive..."

"Are you kidding? You owned that guy from start to finish. I think you're a lot stronger than you know." Hinata's cheeks flamed and she turned her head away.

"T- Thank you." Naruto smiled and walked away.

As Naruto walked reached Team Gai, Lee said, "That was a splendid match, Naruto. I look forward to facing you in the finals."

"Same here, Lee. We have to show everyone what us ex-dead lasts are made of, right?" Naruto asked with a grin, getting a nod in response.

"Nice show, loser." Sasuke said with a smirk when Naruto made it back to his team.

"Yeah, just try to match it, you bastard." Naruto replied, but there was no ill sentiment in his tone as he bumped fists with his Uchiha teammate. "Looks like you're the only one who hasn't passed yet."

"Well, you know what they say about the best." Sasuke replied.

Behind them, Kakashi gave another eye smile at his student's success and how the close his team seemed to have gotten. It was almost hard to believe that just a few months ago they were at each other's throats and Sakura gushed over Sasuke left and right. He was quite proud of them, though he regretted that he hadn't been a better teacher.

Naruto was about to reply when the scoreboard signaled the next match. Naruto glanced at it and suddenly his expression became grim. The sudden shift alerted both his teammates, who turned their own eyes to the board.

Gaara vs Misumi Tsurugi

On the other side of the room Gaara simply closed his eyes before vanishing in a swirl of sand, reappearing at his place and waiting for his opponent, his eyes following the masked genin as he walked towards the stairs.

"Looks like it's my turn." One of Kabuto's purple clad teammates said, identifying him as Misumi.

"We're the only team that had someone chicken out, so everyone here probably thinks we're pushovers. Prove that we're stronger Kabuto." '_Them and Lord Orochimaru._'

"No problem, that kid's toast." '_Gaara's essential for the plan... but he just has to be alive to unleash the beast within. No one said anything about him making it to the final exam. All I have to do is finish him before things get serious._'

"Uh..." Sakura said somewhat uncertainly as she Misumi walked by. "Maybe you should sit this one out." Sakura said, getting his attention. "Gaara's probably the last person here I'd want to fight. I don't think..."

"Thanks for the concern." Misumi cut her off coldly. "But I'm not afraid of a little challenge, unlike Kabuto." And with that, he continued on.

Sakura turned to her teammates. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Naruto shook his head. "Because there's nothing anyone could have said to make me back down. I figure he's the same way." He said and Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"What's got you so concerned?" Tenten asked, wondering why Sakura balked at the idea of fighting Gaara. She didn't seem like the type to back down easily. "Did you run into Gaara in the forest or something?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not me. Naruto." She turned to the arena, a hint of nervousness in her eyes as she thought about what she might witness. "Out of all genin here, Gaara's probably the most dangerous."

Neji's eyes narrowed while Lee frowned as he stared into the arena, both intrigued by Sakura's words. The Jōnin also took notice. All of them knew how boastful Naruto could be, so if he thought someone was dangerous he probably wasn't exaggerating.

Kurenai took notice of Akamaru once more trembling within Kiba's jacket as the little dog looked into the arena. 'So he's the one who spooked Akamaru...'

Soon, Misumi stood across from Gaara, his hands at his sides and his form tense and ready to spring into action while Gaara simply remained stoic, his body relaxed and his arms folded over his chest. Misumi gave a brief, confident chuckle, clearly smirking behind his mask while the redhead remained expressionless.

"Now let the sixth match... begins!"

Misumi ran immediately kicked off towards Gaara, bringing his right arm across his chest for a sweeping attack while Gaara made no attempt to dodge or block. "First strike!" However, as he swung his arm, sand suddenly erupted from the gourd on the Sand Genin's back, forming a shield at the last possible moment. "What?"

'_So that's what's in that gourd..._' Gai thought. '_That's an unusual jutsu..._'

Before Misumi could retract his arm, the sand wrapped around his limb. Gaara calmly raised his hand and directed his palm at the older genin. "Sand Coffin." He closed his fist, the action eliciting looks of panic from the Konoha genin who'd seen or heard of him aside from Sasuke who settled for a glare.

The sand enveloping Misumi's arm suddenly compressed, squeezing the appendage before exploding outward from the force of the action. Misumi let out an agonized cry as pain erupted from his limb as he pulled free, cradling the appendage which was already littered with bruises, the dark purple marks forming as blood spilled from their vessels and pooled across his arm.

"Was that the best you can offer?" Gaara finally spoke up, and it was easy to tell he was unimpressed even though his words were devoid of emotion. "Pathetic."

Misumi growled, refusing to be defeated by a child. "It's not over yet!" He leaped back and called three shuriken to his left hand before throwing them, one straight at his redheaded opponent and the other two arcing around him, only for the sand to block every attack. However, while the sand blocked Gaara's vision, Misumi charged again, kicking at the sand with his left leg, which was predictably blocked...

However, what was NOT expected was for his damaged limb to suddenly extend and snake down and around Gaara's sight, moving to strike at Gaara from where he couldn't see. However, even though the Suna genin hadn't expected the attack, the sand still blocked the attack and once more encased his limb.

"I see." Gaara began as he analyzed his opponent. "Your jutsu allows you to soften your body and disconnect your bones, allowing you to contort in all manner of ways while also making you more resistant to physical force... what pitiful jutsu. Let's put it to the test."

Misumi growled in shock and effort as he attempted to free himself, the sand rapidly swallowing his body. "Sand Coffin…" In moments, he yelled out as his face was covered.

"That's the end." Kankuro said.

"He should have backed down when he had the chance." His sister said.

Naruto gripped the railing. "Quick! Call the match before-!"

"Sand Burial..!" Gaara once more clenched his fist. An agonized cry erupted from the cocoon of sand a moment before blood did the same, spraying out in all directions and painting the arena in large crimson splotches as Hayate leapt back to avoid being drenched in the vital liquid, his eyes wide. Silence rained as all the genin present aside from the sand shinobi, even the stoic Neji and Sasuke stated with matching expressions of shock and horror as the sand relinquished Misumi's mangled body, huge holes giving way to gore and viscera exposed when he was crushed by the sand. The Jounin's faces varied, either matching the wide eyed looks of their students or wearing a grim expression.

After a moment, a voice echoed out through the room. "Winner by death... Gaara."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review.<strong>

**Next chapter will conclude the prelims.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey readers. Sorry for the wait. Good news, I've finally managed to finish the next chapter of Legends of Two Jinchuriki. It'll be uploaded shortly after this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>The only sound throughout the large room were the footsteps of Gaara as he made his way back to his team, and those of the medics who took away Misumi's body, covered in a blanket. Naruto frowned as he watched the body be taken away, kicking himself for not making a move on his own.<p>

"Damn." Asuma said, shaking his head with his face etched in a deep frown. "I thought that kid had an evil look in his eye, but I didn't expect _that_..."

'Naruto didn't exaggerate in the slightest. I should've been ready to step in.' Kakashi thought as he watched Gaara make his way back to his team. 'But... something about that jutsu...'

Yoroi snarled and slammed his fist against the railing, drawing all the Konoha Genin's eyes to him. His sensei put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. There's nothing more we can do, save it for your match."

Naruto gave him a sympathetic look. "Sorry about your teammate." He said, getting their attention. He looked down and balled his hands into fists. "Kabuto helped me out back in the forest... I owe you guys. I knew how dangerous Gaara was, I should have done something."

Yoroi gave a sigh, feigning sorrow and understanding. Compassion and camaraderie were rare commodities among spies, especially under employment under a master like his. Truthfully, all he was feeling at the moment was frustration at his own weakened position, but he easily suppressed that. "You couldn't have known that Gaara would end it that quickly. And this is just how the world is. Being a shinobi means you could die any day, there's no telling when your number will be up."

Naruto didn't seem the least bit placated by that. "I know that, but..."

"But it doesn't make losing comrades any easier." Kakashi answered for him, causing his students to look at him. The look in his eye made them remember he had a lot of experience with that.

In the arena, Hayate cleared his throat, cutting off any further statements. "Excuse me, but as this was well within the allowances for the exam, we'll be continuing the prelims now." At that, the scoreboard sounded again. The Rookie 9, eager to get their minds off what they just saw, turned their attention to it. In a few moments the next match was decided.

Kiba vs Mubi

"Looks like it's our turn. I think we got one of those losers Naruto took down, this should be a piece of cake." Kiba said before looking down at the dog. "Let's show 'em what we got, huh Akamaru?" The dog barked in response.

"You're our last shot. Don't screw this up." Oboro said to his teammate.

"Relax; I'm up against a boy and his mutt. How tough could they be?"

Kagari face palmed as his teammate tempted fate. "We're doomed."

* * *

><p>The two genin stood across from each other, both ready to fight. Kiba would normally be smirking, but the stench of the blood surrounding him dampened his excitement somewhat. Akamaru leapt out of his coat and stood on the ground beside him.<p>

"And what's that tiny little runt gonna do? Growl at me until I cower in fear?"

"Word of advice. Don't taunt Akamaru." Kiba said seriously and the dog growled at his side.

"I'm positively shaking."

"If you're ready." Hayate said, looking from one to the other. "You can begin."

Kiba immediately leapt back as Mubi shot forward to attack and landed in a crouch, forming a single hand seal. "Alright. Ninja Art: Beast Mimicry! All Fours Jutsu!" Kiba declared as chakra began to visibly leak from his body. As the jutsu implied, he got down on all fours, his nails lengthening and his canine's growing larger, giving the boy a more feral appearance.

Mubi immediately halted his advance and sunk into the ground using the Underground Projection Fish Technique. 'Beast Mimicry huh? The name says it all. Animals are stronger and possess more powerful senses than humans, so this jutsu probably brings its user closer to the animal kingdom to enhance their abilities... so direct attacks are out. Good thing that's not how I fight anyway.' Mubi smirked. 'Problem is, that mutt might be useless in a fight, but it'll probably sniff me out... unless...'

Kiba's eyes scanned the arena as he waited for his opponent to surface. When he did, rising from the ground on the far side of the arena behind him, Akamaru immediately noticed and promptly barked in his direction, alerting his master of his presence. However, as Kiba turned to launch himself at his opponent, Mubi made a series of hand seals. 'Mist Follower Jutsu.'

As Kiba jumped and whirled around to face his opponent, he vanished into a mist that seemed to cover the entire arena. "What the... some kind of mist jutsu?" He turned to his dog. "Akamaru, can you tell where he's hiding?" The dog looked around for a moment before shaking its head. "Tch, he must have covered his scent. Where-" Suddenly a black shape began to rise from the stone nearby. "Huh?"

The shape gradually took the form of an Ame genin wearing all black, contrasting Mubi and his teammates matching yellow jumpsuits. "You don't stand a chance."

At those words, dozen more shadows began to raise, each taking the form of another black cloaked Ame shinobi, all slowly turning their heads towards him, mocking him.

"What the hell's this? Some kind of clone jutsu?" Kiba glared at the copies as they slowly began making their way towards him with eerie, zombie like gaits. "It's gonna take more than this to stand a chance against me!" He charged towards the nearest clone, its movements far too slow to mount any kind of defense. He slashed at it with his claw and struck true, but frowned. It was almost like punching through molasses. Its body melted into tar where it was struck and as Kiba skid across the ground and turned to face his enemy, he found that there was another clone growing out of where the first was wounded. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped in disbelief as both heads turned to regard him

"What in the-?"

"What's he doing?" Ino questioned, seeing Kiba appear to attack thin air. Akamaru was looking around uncertainly.

"He must be under a genjutsu." Sakura theorized.

Kiba continued to strike at the clones that came near him, but every time he struck one, the things multiplied. He would have gotten out of their encirclement, but they were everywhere. More and more kept coming and already there was barely a spot that didn't have one of the black cloaked shinobi almost in arm's length. The ones surrounding Kiba had been mangled and were now grotesque amalgams of bodies, with masses of limbs sticking out were they didn't belong, multiple heads and much constantly leaking tar out of unhealed wounds on their forms.

"Damn it, there's no end to these things!" He snarled before a canine cry of alarm caught his attention. "Akamaru!"

Turning to his partner, he found the tiny dog was in the hands of the Ame genin, his front paws held together in his hands and a kunai held to the dog's neck as more of the dark shinobi took up defensive positions around him.

"You seem like a pretty tough guy. I'm guessing it'll take a while for my friends to tire you out." Mubi began. His jutsu only manipulated three of the five senses: sight, hearing and feeling, but fortunately, the blood Gaara had scattered across the arena had covered his scent. "Lucky for me, you seem to care about this mutt so much." He brought the kunai closer to the dog's neck, causing it to whimper. "Forfeit now and your little friend won't get hurt."

Kiba snarled at the Ame genin. "You bastard!" His opponent simply chuckled... before Kiba grinned and vanished from sight. Before Mubi knew what happened, he'd been struck and sent flying, safely away from the little dog that landed on his feet rather like his hated adversaries: the felines.

"You should have tried that from farther away, dumbass. I could close that distance in a heartbeat." Kiba boasted; looking around as the various clones vanished. "Oh, I get it. Those were just illusions. So, I guess the game's over, huh?" He asked as Mubi got up and glared. "But I think Akamaru's gonna want some payback for that stunt you pulled, right?" Akamaru barked in response and Kiba kneeled down, letting the dog jump on his back as he made the tiger hand seal. "Ninja Art:-" There was a puff of smoke and the two vanished from sight. When the cloud cleared, it revealed that Akamaru had been turned into a copy of the feral genin. "Man Beast Clone!"

'_Shit! There goes his biggest weak spot!_'

The two Kiba's launched themselves forward, zig-zagging as they closed the distance and moving so fast the spectators lost all hope of telling them apart. Mubi could hardly rise up any defense as the two blitzed him. He managed to duck under an attack from the first Kiba and jumped back as the second swiped at him with his claws, only to take an elbow to the face when the first shot forward again. His guard shattered, he could do nothing as one of the animalistic twins slammed him in the stomach, launching him back to where the other appeared to send him away with a sweeping kick.

The Ame genin was ragdolled by the pair before finally, the launched him into the air. The pair of wolfish genin stood beside each other. "Man-Beast Taijutsu-" One of the two, the real Kiba declared before both leapt after their opponent, both spinning in the air so quickly their forms resembled drills before they began rotating together into a single twister. "Fang over Fang!" The two blurs slammed into Mubi, who let out a cry of pain as they drove him to the ground and dragged him across its surface digging a groove into the stone before slamming into a wall, kicking up a cloud of debris. Both jumped out of the resulting smog and when it cleared, it revealed the Ame genin was unconscious.

"Winner: Kiba Inuzuka."

"Ha! Looks like those Ame genin weren't so tough." Kiba declared triumphantly as he stood up straight, releasing his jutsu and retaking his normal appearance. A cloud of smoke engulfed his copy that reverted back to his true form and barked at his master.

"I knew Kiba wouldn't lose to that guy." Naruto said, grinning slightly.

"Damn it!" Oboro slammed his fist against the railing.

"Heh, looks like those guys are O for 3. Pretty sad." Temari commented, looking at the pair of Ame genin with a smirk. "They made it all this way for nothing."

"Congratulations, Kiba." Hinata said as her teammate returned to her side.

"Eh, it was nothing. Besides, we still have the finals to worry about." Kiba replied, suddenly serious. "We've got to show our stuff for Shino, and there are two guys here even I want to get into a fight with."

"Looks like things are winding down." Naruto commented as the scoreboard came to life once again.

Yoroi watched the lights dance across the screen. '_There are only three possibilities left, and all three are just run of the mill rookies. Lord Orochimaru tasked us to test Sasuke, and since Kabuto backed out and Misumi bit it, I'm all that's left._'

In moments the penultimate match was decided.

Sasuke vs Kankuro

"Looks like you're up Sasuke." Naruto said, turning to grin at the Uchiha. "You better not blow it, there's a lot riding on this."

Sasuke raised a brow. "You'll have to enlighten me on that."

Naruto's grin widened somewhat as he pointed at the Suna genin. "Both our teams are two for three. Whoever wins this match's team is undefeated."

Sasuke blinked before smirking. "Heh. I get it. Show everyone we're the best of the best. Fine, I won't be the one to blow our winning streak." He made began his walk to the stairs. "I wasn't planning on losing anyway."

"That brat huh?" Kankuro commented across the arena.

"Don't screw around with this one, Kankuro." His sister said.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry so much. I've been looking forward to this."

Shikamaru was glaring at the screen. '_Great. This means I'm up against the guy who just lost his teammate... what a drag._'

* * *

><p>Sasuke and Kankuro stood apart from each other; the black clothed genin took the wrapped object off of his back and slammed it on the ground, resting his hand on its top.<p>

"Get him, Sasuke!" Ino cried from her place on the railing, getting no reaction from the Uchiha heir.

"I'm going to give you some advice." Kankuro began. "Once I unleash the Crow here, you're gonna want to give up."

Sasuke smirked. "Funny, I was going to say something along those lines to you." '_Should I go all out and use the Sharingan to end this quickly?_' He thought on it for a moment. '_Why the hell not? The finals probably won't be today anyway if they have to call up VIPs from other nations, so I don't need to conserve chakra. It's best if I end this quickly, and don't show off anything the spectators don't already know I've got._'

"And... Begin!"

Sasuke immediately crouched down, ready to dodge or launch himself at his black clad opponent as he drew a kunai and spun it by the ring at its base into a reverse grip and activated his Sharingan. When he saw what truly lied in front of him, he couldn't help but let his smirk widen before he burst into blurred motion.

'Damn! He's seen through me.' Kankuro's expression twisted into a grimace. He'd hoped Sasuke wouldn't activate the Sharingan right off the bat. Clearly, he'd hoped in vain. He instantly began to move, grabbing the wrapped Crow and preparing to jump a moment too late. Sasuke reached them but at the last moment, diverted away from Kankuro and targeted the Crow. Something shot out of Kankuro's side, a blur that the spectators couldn't make out but the Uchiha heir ducked beneath it. He slashed at the bandaged object, managing to catch it as Kankuro leapt away.

As he sailed through the air, Kankuro threw out a free hand and dozens of senbon suddenly shot out, seemingly from out of his palm. Sasuke leapt back to dodge, leaning back in midair until he was parallel to the floor to let a second wave pass over him and then planted his hands on the ground to launch him backwards, and evading one final barrage.

"Idiot." Gaara said dismissively.

"Ugh," Temari face palmed. "Didn't I tell him to take this seriously?"

Both Sasuke and Kankuro landed and glared at each other, and for a moment all was still. Then, a crimson stain grew from the side of the bandaged object. Moments later the bandages unraveled to reveal... Kankuro, his right arm bleeding slightly, throws a fierce look at the Sharingan wielder.

"Huh?" Sakura voiced her surprise before looking to what she thought had been Kankuro. "Then what...?"

The clearly fake Kankuro's form cracked, its entire body seeming to break down into sand, revealing a new figure. An odd, four armed and three eyed wooden construct with jagged teeth, spikey brown hair and wearing a tattered brown cloak.

"A puppet?" Sakura questioned with a frown.

"Apparently, Kankuro's one of Suna's infamous puppet users." Kakashi commented, drawing all the Genin's attention. "Rather than fight directly, they use threads made of their chakra to control puppets to fight in their stead."

Naruto scoffed and crossed his arms, closing his eyes although you couldn't see it through his sunglasses. "So they spend all their time playing with dolls? Real intimidating."

"I'm with Naruto on this one. These guys sound like pushovers." Kiba agreed.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that." Kakashi shook his head. "Like you just saw, they're loaded with all kinds of hidden weaponry, all of which are typically poisoned." That caused both previously unconcerned genin to look back at him, their brows furrowing. "Not to mention that no part of them is essential, so they're very hard to disable without directly targeting the puppeteer and the chemical knowledge and fine chakra control required to control their puppets and create their poisons make them natural medical ninjas. Some of Suna's most dangerous ninja have been puppeteers."

"So, that's what you were hiding under those bandages." Sasuke commented.

Ignoring his wound, Kankuro smirked. "That's right. This here's my favorite puppet: The Crow. I inherited it from one of the greatest puppeteers in Suna's history. It might not look like it, but it's deadly."

"One of the greatest, huh? You must have a lot of faith in it." Sasuke replied. His eyes narrowed as he thought back to the exchange moments ago. The puppet wasn't a living thing; it had no muscles to give the minute signals his crimson eyes used to read his targets. 'My Sharingan won't be able to predict that thing's movements as well as they could a living being...'

Kankuro grinned. "Yeah, want to see why? Actually, why don't I just show you?" With a slight movement of his hands, Crow shot forward, extending its right arm forward to reveal a dagger below the wrist. Sasuke easily dodged the puppet, leaping to the side and charging at Kankuro. However, alarm bells went off in his head when Kankuro's grin widened and he once again moved his hands. Sasuke heard the faint sound of weapons being fired and turned just in time to see two daggers flying towards him, aimed at his head.

The Uchiha heir ducked under the weapons and responded by throwing his kunai at the puppet, aimed at the now revealed launching mechanism in the puppets mouth, only for it to weave to the side. However, that gave him all the time he needed to close the distance between himself and Kankuro. The puppeteer quickly cut his strings and ran through hand signs and Sasuke's eyes widened when his Sharingan told him what the jutsu was. He quickly deduced what the black clad teen was planning.

Sure enough, a moment later, Kankuro was replaced by the Crow, as Sasuke expected. What Sasuke didn't expect however was for his footing to suddenly be yanked out from under him. His crimson eyes looked down at his foot to find chakra threads connected to it before they snapped. 'Damn! He used his chakra threads to trip me up.'

Kankuro immediately reconnected to his puppet and had it raise all four of its arm, releasing a hail of senbon. 'You're mine now, you punk.'

Sasuke began to run through hand signs the moment the puppet raised its arms, taking in a deep breath as they fired at him. 'Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!'

He put his hand to his mouth and released a stream of fireballs at the ground in front of him, erupting into small explosions that deflected the needles and obscured him his form behind a wall of fire.

"Damn, I almost-" Kankuro began as he gestured for the Crow to return to him when suddenly he had a kunai at his throat, causing him to halt all movement and his puppet to come to a stop in midair. Making a slight turn of the head, he saw Sasuke holding the dagger out of the corner of his eye.

"Nice try, but the game's over. Your jutsu tells me all I need to know. You rely entirely on that puppet, which means you're probably helpless without it, and if I see those strings so much as twitch, you're finished."

Kankuro glared at the Uchiha before shrugging. "Alright, alright, I get it. You win, I give."

"Winner: Sasuke Uchiha."

"Great job, Sasuke! I knew that guy was no match for you!" Ino cheered.

"Will the final two combatants please step down to the arena so that the final match can begin?" Hayate said as Sasuke and Kankuro vacated the arena.

Shikamaru sighed. 'This sucks...' he thought as he began the walk down to the arena as Ino called after him, "Don't you dare throw this match, you hear me!?"

Temari glared at her brother when he finally rejoined his team. "Nice going, Kankuro. That's why I told you not to hold back."

"Yeah, sorry, I know. I screwed up. Rub it in why don't you?" The black clad teen replied as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, getting no response from his older sister and a scoff from his younger brother.

"Congrats Sasuke. You made it look easy." Sakura said with a smile as the Uchiha heir returned to his team.

"Looks like we're all going to the finals." Naruto said, grinning.

"Were you expecting something else?" Sasuke questioned.

Asuma looked at his student as the final match was about to begin. '_I can at least count on Shikamaru to win. Out of all the genin here, he's probably the one with the best shot at making chunin._'

Down below, Shikamaru and Yoroi had taken their places. Shikamaru let out a sigh, looking at his opponent with a somewhat irritated expression as he reached into the pouch on his back. "Sorry about your teammate, but my teammates wouldn't appreciate it if I let you win. It sucks, but-" He pulled out kunai and flipped it into a reverse grip. "- this Kunai's going to end your shot at the exams."

Yoroi scoffed. "What? You expect to take me down with a kunai? I thought you Nara were supposed to be smart."

Shikamaru made no response and a moment of silence passed before Hayate raised his arm. "Let the final match... begin!"

Yoroi immediately launched himself at his opponent, who slipped into a fighting stance and held his place as the purple clad man closed the distance. Yoroi lunged to grab the Nara heir when they reached each other only for Shikamaru to slip around the attack, dodging to the right and making a swipe at his torso with his kunai, which the older genin easily dodged. Yoroi made an attempt to sweep Shikamaru's leg out from under him, but the lazy genin leapt in the air to dodge, slashing the kunai at Yoroi's head only for him to duck under the attack.

Before Shikamaru could make another move, Yoroi had reached up and grabbed the lazy genin by the face and slammed him into the ground near where Sakura has emerged after dragging Tenten under during their match, his head impacting the stone with an audible crack as the older genin restrained the arm holding the kunai and pinning him to the ground. Shikamaru grabbed at the hand holding him down with his free hand before his eyes widened as he realized his strength was leaving him.

'_This is... he's absorbing my chakra!_'

Yoroi grinned behind his mask. 'That's right brat, give all your strength to me.'

After a few moments of fruitless struggle, Shikamaru released his hand and managed to grab another kunai which he stabbed at Yoroi, forcing him to jump back. As Shikamaru rose to his feet, breathing heavily as he tried to recover his lost strength, he glared up at his opponent and said, "You know, not that I'm complaining, but if you weren't such a glutton for chakra, you could have ended the fight right there."

"Maybe, but where would the fun in that is?" Yoroi replied.

"You should be more careful about underestimating your opponent. It could cost you."

"We'll see about that." Yoroi replied. 'I have to keep his hands occupied. It's the easiest way to avoid the Nara's Shadow Possession jutsu. Failing that, I just need to stay out of his range. This fight's in the bag.'

Shikamaru leapt backwards and threw his kunai at Yoroi's head, but he easily evaded the weapon with a simple tilt of his head as he continued running. "Ha! Didn't you say you were going to end this with that kunai!?"

Shikamaru just grinned in response and made a hand sign. Suddenly, blinding light burst from the spot just behind Yoroi, the same spot he'd held Shikamaru down at moments ago. 'What? A flash bomb!?' He thought as he turned his head slightly to look back at the light as. Focusing on Shikamaru once again, he saw him make the rat hand sign and realized the Nara was standing in the shadow cast by the flash bomb. 'Shit! I have to-!'

Too late. Yoroi felt his body freeze and knew he'd been caught. As the light from the bomb faded, his and the Nara's shadow remained unnaturally connected. "Shadow Possession Jutsu- success."

"You planted that flash bomb in the cracks while I held you down." Yoroi snarled as his body trembled, fighting in vain against the jutsu.

"Figured it out that quickly?" Shikamaru responded.

"So what? All you can do is restraining me, and you can't hold me here forever."

"What are you talking about? Did you already forget?" And with that the Nara heir turned around, forcing the purple clad man to imitate the action, and walked away. Yoroi frowned as he fought against the jutsu before his eyes widened as his gaze landed on the kunai. Shikamaru forced him to step past it and turn around so they were facing each other. He then reached down and made Yoroi grab the kunai before making him bring it to his throat. "This kunai will end your shot at the exams. It's time for you to give up."

Yoroi growled. '_Bested by a brat..._' "Fine, I give."

"Winner: Shikamaru Nara!"

"Whoa, that was quick." Naruto commented.

"He had that whole match planned out from the beginning." Sasuke commented.

"With this the preliminaries have been completed. I ask that all the winners come down to the floor." In short order, the winning genin had assembled together, standing in a line before Hayate. From left to right were Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, Neji, Lee, Temari and finally Gaara. "First off, I'd like to congratulate everyone who made it this far. Now, Lord Hokage will explain how the final stage of the exams will work."

The Third Hokage nodded to the proctor and stepped forward, taking in a deep breath from his pipe a blowing out a cloud of smoke before putting it away and addressing the assembled genin. "As I said before, these exams are an opportunity to not only showcase your own capabilities, but to represent the strength of your respective villages. Therefore, I'd like you to fight without holding anything back. This is why the finals won't be held until one month from now."

That statement got surprised reactions from all the genin, mostly raised eyebrows or narrowed eyes, save Gaara who as usual showed no response.

"Wait, 'in a month'? What gives, why do we have to wait so long?" Naruto questioned, perplexed by the delay. It shouldn't take that long to round up all the VIPs. He'd figured the invitations had already been sent out.

Sasuke frowned, thinking along the same lines. '_I didn't think the finals would be held today... but a month from now? Why wait so long?_'

"You could say this break exists to give you time to make preparations, in addition to allowing us time to contact the various lords and shinobi leaders and make final arrangements for the third stage. Now that you have witnessed one another's abilities, you will have this month to analyze the information you've collected, estimate your chances of winning and prepare yourselves to face these final challenges. Up until now, the exams have simulated missions where you faced unknown opponents. Now, however, many of you have revealed your abilities, and some of you may be injured and unable to perform at your best." He briefly looked at Lee, who was still not in the best condition after using the Primary Lotus. "To make things fairer, we're giving you this month to rest and advance."

He paused for a moment to let this sink in before he continued, "Now, I'd like to say you're all dismissed, but there's still one last thing we have to do first." With a tilt of his head, he gestured to Anko, who stepped forward, carrying a small, unremarkable box. "There are pieces of paper within the box that Anko's holding. Each of you is to take one."

The purple haired kunoichi added, "I'll come around, so wait your turn." as she moved to the closest end of the line of genin, holding out the box for Sakura to reach in.

Sakura raised an eyebrow as she opening the paper to reveal... '_A seven?_'

'_One?_' Naruto frowned at what he drew, not that he was surprised he drew number one, before looking up at the Hokage as Anko moved on to Sasuke. "What's this about? Are we drawing lots or something?"

Surprising the blond, who'd only been guessing, Hiruzen nodded. "That's it exactly."

The Rinnegan bearer looked slightly surprised before staring back at the number. '_Huh... __And here I thought we'd be using something like the scoreboard again... Guess they don't want us going in blind this time around._'

"So then, the final round is going to be a tournament?" Rock Lee questioned.

"More or less." The God of Shinobi confirmed. "Of course, the conditions for winning aren't what you would call traditional for such an affair."

"How so?" Neji promted.

"Obviously, there can't be just one winner." The Hokage replied, bringing his hands together behind his back. "Rather, your performance will be evaluated by judges, such as myself and Lord Kazekage among other prominent shinobi from the villages with participating genin. Those of you who are judged to possess the necessary qualities will be promoted, regardless of how far you actually make it in the exams. In other words, making it to the final round simply gives you more opportunities to display your capabilities. It's entirely possible for someone who lost their first match to become a chunin."

"So that means... is it possible for all of us to become chunin?" Temari asked after drawing her lot.

Hiruzen nodded to her in response, however his next words were slightly disheartening to many of the assembled genin. "However, by that logic it is just as strong a possibility that none of you will become chunin." He glanced at Anko as she stepped away from the group before saying, "All right, now that you've all drawn your numbers, I'd like you to say them aloud starting from the left."

"Seven." Sakura said.

"Number one, of course." Naruto said with a grin.

"Six." Sasuke stated.

"Ten." Shikamaru revealed.

"Three." Came from Kiba.

"Four." Hinata voiced.

"Five." Was Neji's response.

"Two." Came from Lee.

"Nine." Temari said.

"Eight." Was Gaara monotone statement.

Hiruzen nodded and turned to Ibiki, watching as he finished documenting their names. When he saw the scarred Jōnin had finished, he said, "Now Ibiki, show them the match arrangements."

Ibiki nodded and turned the sheet he was holding around; revealing the order divided into two blocks with one final match up whose lucky winner would get to rest a round. The genin and all the spectators took stock of their opponents and the other matches.

'_So I'm up against bushy brows, huh? That'll be one for the books._' Naruto grinned as he looked at the first match; Naruto Uzumaki vs Rock Lee. His gaze swept over the following fights; Hinata Hyuuga vs Kiba Inuzuka, followed by Sasuke Uchiha vs Neji Hyuuga and then his eyes bugged out when they landed on the fourth match. '_Oh shit!_'

Sakura Haruno vs Gaara.

"Gah!" Was the pink haired kunoichi's strangled reaction to seeing her match, her jaw dropping and her eyes widening to solid white orbs as she stood frozen in place. Sasuke's eyes narrowed when he saw the same.

Up on the balcony, Ino sucked in a hissing breath as she winced in sympathy. 'Ooh! Tough break, Sakura...'

Gaara simply let out a brief, contemptuous snort when he saw his match.

'_Crap._' Kiba thought when he saw he had to fight his teammate, said girl averting her gaze and looking to the ground. Turning to her, he said, "Let's have a good match, huh Hinata?" Hinata nodded and smiled weakly in response.

Sakura finally unfroze from the horrified stance she'd been in for the past dozen or so seconds, slumping forward and closing her eyes, her face twisted into a look of despair. '_I'm screwed... I'm screwed... I'm SO screwed..._'

"Now, if there are no final questions, then you'll all be dismissed." He paused, giving anyone with questions the opportunity to speak up. Seeing that no one was going to take him up on the offer, he nodded. "Very well. You are all free to begin strategizing, training, or resting as you please. The following month is yours to do with as you wish. I suggest you use your time wisely."

With that, the genin dispersed, gathering together with their teams. Naruto frowned, giving his pink haired teammate a grim look before asking, "Sakura, are you all right with this?"

Sakura threw him a slightly irritated expression. "And just how would I be all right?"

Naruto held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I know, I know. I mean, are you going to fight or...?"

Sakura raised her fist to her chest, a determined look coming across her features. "Of course I'm going to fight. Would you just give up or would you fight this guy with everything you've got?"

Naruto grinned, resting his hands behind his head. "Do you even have to ask?"

"Well I'm not just going to back down either." The pink haired girl said, smiling. "Besides, at least I can probably soften him up for you guys. It's my job to make sure you don't get in over your heads, and chances are one of you is going to wind up fighting him later. I can't just stand by and let him go in fresh when you'll be worn out."

"You sure about this?" Sasuke questioned, his usual stoic expression showing a hint of concern. Honestly, Sakura was probably the worst out of the three of them to fight Gaara.

Sakura's smile became a little uncertain. "... I'll think of something. I'm sure of it!"

Up on the balcony, Gai chuckled and shook his head, "Well, Kakashi. I've got to admit those kids of yours are something else. But I'm afraid they may have gotten in a little over their heads this time." He turned to the man he proclaimed to be his eternal rival and continued, "Naruto doesn't stand anymore of a chance against Lee than Sasuke has against Neji, and with Sakura up against Gaara... well, no offense to her but she might want to back out before she gets hurt. Those kids made a good try, but it looks like they've hit a dead end."

Kakashi paused for a moment, watching his team as they conversed and made for the exit, his single eye hinting at his usual, inscrutable look before he turned to Gai. "Maybe. But I have faith in them. I'm sure they'll surprise you yet."

Gai chuckled again. "It's only natural that a leader wants to believe in his subordinates. Still, I gotta say it's good to see it from you." That drew a curious look from the silver haired Jonin. "After all the teams you turned down, I didn't think you'd ever know the joys of being a teacher and watching your students flourish."

"Well, I was just waiting for the right ones." He began to walk away. "Those three are probably expecting me, so I should get going. We've got a lot of planning ahead of us." He made it five steps before turning to the Jōnin with the oversized eyebrows. "Oh, and Gai?"

"Yeah?"

Kakashi gave the green clad man an eye smile. "Three for three!" And with those words, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Gai blinked at where his rival had stood before the meaning of his words hit him. His eyes widened and he jaw dropped before he roared to the heavens, "DAMN YOU, KAKASHI!"

Kakashi reappeared before his students just after they left the room. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei! Are we going straight back to training?"

The Jōnin eye smiled at his students. "Well, not right away. I figure you could all use a bit of rest and a hot shower after what you've been through. I did, however, want to invite you to celebrate about all of you making it to the finals. Your choice, my treat."

Both Naruto and Sakura lit up at that. "Awesome!" The blond said.

The pink haired girl turned to her crush and asked, "Are you coming too, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha heir looked from one of his teammates to the other before settling on his teacher. "Kakashi, you plan to talk about our upcoming matches after you're done eating, don't you?" Kakashi just continued to eye smile at him. Sasuke sighed. "Then I guess I don't have a choice."

Naruto ginned while Sakura seemed ecstatic at his acceptance.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the roof of a building, standing in the shadows cast by the columns holding up the extended roof, was a certain snake like shinobi and his right hand man. Orochimaru leaned against the stone pillar behind him, staring out at Konoha while Kabuto kneeled at his side, his arm resting on his propped up knee and his head bowed in subservience to his master and teacher. Though the serpentine Sannin would never admit it, he did feel a bit nostalgic about returning to the place of his birth, though there were few positive sentiments going through his mind as he gazed out at the peaceful village.<p>

"The preliminaries should be over by now." Kabuto voiced to his master. "The preparations for the finals should begin soon enough."

Orochimaru made a brief noise of agreement but didn't move nor avert his gaze. His attention was briefly draw tot a small flock of doves that landed nearby. "It's all so serene, isn't it? This village has become accustom to peace, even though they say the rest of the world is gathering their power."

Kabuto rose to his feet. "Do you think we could take it, if we attacked now?"

"Perhaps..." Orochimaru mused, though his tone suggested he wasn't really interested in the thought. "Though, it wouldn't be satisfying to take the old man's head under these circumstances."

"Oh really?" Something about Kabuto's tone drew Orochimaru's attention. "It seems like you're still hesitant to act." The traitorous Sannin made no response as he continued to stare at his subordinate. The grim expression on his face would have warned many against continuing, but Kabuto paid it no mind. "You plan on pitting all the hidden villages, even Oto, against each other, kicking off another period of war and bloodshed..." He pushed up his glasses with his index finger and stared at the Sannin"... and the bullet to set it all off... is to be Sasuke Uchiha, right?"

Orochimaru closed his eyes and let out a chuckle. "Intuitive as always, Kabuto."

"Not really." Kabuto disagreed. "I didn't know about that bunch you sent to test Sasuke. As part of my assignment to gather information on him, I decided to test them myself and acted foolishly, purposefully taking on their attacks. You think too much of me."

"It seems you don't fully trust me." Orochimaru replied. "Was there any need to inform you about something as insignificant as those three? One way or another, I had no intention of them surviving this affair, and they didn't even manage to make an attempt at their objective, let alone accomplish anything. And you were able to discern their purpose immediately upon seeing them. The fact that I didn't tell is proof of my faith in you."

Kabuto paused for a moment before smirking. "Well, it's hard to turn down such praise. Although, this is exactly how you manage to win the loyalty of poor souls like those three discarded genin, am I right?"

Orochimaru chuckled once more. "You're far too clever for such tactics to work on you. Anyway, just put your feet up and relax. For the time being, I don't have anything for you to do."

"Oh? And here I thought you'd be worried about your quarry, and a certain Jinchuriki."

"Oh, that has weighed on mind." The Sannin replied. "I have to admit, I was surprised. I hadn't expected Sasuke to be so willing to throw his life away before he had a chance at vengeance, yet he chose to fight me alongside his team when Naruto chose to try and hold me off, knowing they had almost no chance of winning. I'd imagine it's so gradual that Sasuke himself hasn't noticed it, but contact with the Kyuubi boy is changing his heart and mind. If it continues, he might even abandon the path of the avenger... we can't have that, now can we?"

Kabuto's eyes narrowed. "So, you plan to target Naruto then?"

"In this blood-soaked hell that is the world of shinobi; it would be all too obvious what befell him if he were to just vanish. His loss would drive Sasuke back into the darkness, and I'm sure he'd jump at the possibility to avenge his friends along with his clan... even if it means taking advantage of the one responsible for their loss... or perhaps that will make it all the more appealing. Besides, once our plans for Konoha are complete, he won't have anywhere else to turn, will he? And we'll claim the blond's precious eyes in the process... after I lost my last chance at those eyes; I imagined it'd be a decade before I had another chance."

"I suppose not." The spy acknowledged. "I take it you don't intend on having me do the deed, so who?"

"Oh, I have someone in mind." Orochimaru replied, his mouth widening into a twisted mockery of a smile, licking his lips like a predator whose prey lies helpless before him. "A tool that will all too soon be worn out completely. I should get as much use out of him as possible before he's lost to us, wouldn't you agree?" Kabuto's expression made it difficult to gauge his opinion.

* * *

><p>At about that time, another student teacher duo were having a private meeting of their own. Having quickly returned to his office, Hiruzen sat at his desk, inhaling deeply from his pipe as he half turned to look at Jiraiya, who leaned back against the wall behind him, looking out the window at his side. I hate to say it, but things might not be peaceful around here much longer." The toad summoner said with a sigh. "When do you think Orochimaru will make his move?"<p>

The Third Hokage took out his pipe and breathed out a cloud of smoke. "It's impossible to say for sure. There's a good chance he'll try to take the visitors hostage during the finals. We'll have to have agents hidden amongst them, if he hasn't attacked already by then." Jiraiya grunted in agreement. "Were you able to dig up anything on Oto during the past week?"

His student shook his head. "I've been able to find out its general location, but I can't go snooping around over there right now for obvious reasons. Beyond that, nothing but whispers. Still, at least we know where he disappeared to after the Akatsuki kicked him out."

"And we still know next to nothing about them and their plans. Even once we deal with Orochimaru, another threat's looming on the horizon." Hiruzen said with a shake of his head. His voice sounded tired and for once his face showed the weight of every one of his 60+ years as a shinobi.

"Isn't there always?" Jiraiya replied, taking on a weary tone of his own. "That's how this world works. There's always someone out there, waiting for you to show weakness so they can pounce on it. That's part of the reason you kept Danzo around for all these years isn't it? That's old war hawks good for two things, and one of them is dealing with what we can't see.' Unfortunately, the other thing he was good for was making enemies, but he had too much influence within the village and with the Feudal Lord and other nobles to just ousts him and he was always looking over his shoulder.

The god of shinobi sighed. "For the past few years, I've been trying to find some way to limit his power... I was too lax. I should have done something sooner."

"Oh? What brought that change on? Far as I know you were content to let him do what he wanted as long as he stayed in the shadows and didn't try to seize power or something?" Hiruzen's eyes narrowed and he stared at the ground, clearly not wanting to talk about whatever had changed his views of his old friend. Jiraiya shrugged and looked out the window. "Fine, keep it to yourself." After a pause, he turned to his sense again. "Say old man, do you have any back up plans for Konoha if you bite it?"

Hiruzen chuckled. "Have you so little faith in me, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya smirked back at the man and shrugged. "Well, it's not like you're getting any younger. Those old bones must be fighting you every step of the way. You should kick your feet up and go back to retirement."

"You say that when you're no spring chicken yourself."

Jiraiya appeared mock offended by that statement. "Hey, I'll have you know 50's the new 40."

"Well, I'd say I still have another decade to two left in me."

"Yeah, I could see you sitting in that chair 20 years from now. And I'd like to." Jiraiya replied before his smirk vanished, his expression becoming grim. "Seriously though. If I thought there was any chance I was going to check out anytime soon, I'd be sure to have an insurance policy or two."

The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair. As much as he hated to admit it... he wasn't entirely sure he could defeat his serpentine former student. Not for the first time, he wished he'd had the strength to do what needed to be done years ago when Orochimaru left. He'd hoped he'd find his way again, but after seeing what he'd done in the lab... he supposed he should have known better. That he boy who'd been as much a son to him as Asuma and his brother had died long before that day.

In what seemed to others like a brief moment, his mind, honed to think run through thoughts in moments by years of battle, ran through everything that could go wrong if he were to fall... many of the possibilities were not to his liking. "... You may have a point. Either way, all we can do is making sure we're ready when he plays his hand." He took another deep breath of his pipe, gathering his thoughts before blowing out the smoke. His eyes turned to the pictures of the Hokage that rested on the wall, lined up in order. He looked across them until his eyes landed on the final photo, one of a blond man with tan skin and ocean blue eyes. "I wonder... would things have gone this far, if I'd been the one to make the sacrifice that day."

Jiraiya followed his gaze before closing his eyes. After a moment, he shook his head. "Don't start thinking about that. Kami knows I've done it enough to know you'll get nowhere quick dwelling on what ifs."

"I'm well aware of the folly of falling into that particular trap. Forgive an old man for his musings." A moment of silence fell over the student and teacher before Hiruzen reached into his desk, the sound of a draw sliding open catching the Toad summoner's eye. "For once, there's a distinct lack of paperwork tying me down." He turned to reveal a white bottle and two cups. "Care to share a drink with your old sensei?"

"Well, I should really go see those brats I've been helping so I can weigh in before they come up with a plan of their own..." Jiraiya smirked, kicking off the wall and rubbing his hands together. As expected of the head of an old and powerful clan, Hiruzen always had the best sake you could find in Konoha. "But how can I say no to that? Just be sure to break out the good stuff, old man."

Hiruzen chuckled. "Would I keep anything else in arm's length?"

Ten minutes later and Jiraiya sat on the corner of the desk, throwing back his cup before reaching over to the bottle again.

"You're lucky she didn't finish the job." Hiruzen said; his amusement as he recalled the one-time Jiraiya almost died. "How many times did I tell you not to peak on Tsunade again?"

The Sannin chuckled deeply and raised his glass. "More times than I care to count old man, and you I gave you the same answer every time!"

"Yes, yes, 'I won't quit until I, Jiraiya, pervert extraordinaire have seen every vivacious example of the female form in the world!'" Hiruzen shook his head. While he was always fond of his white haired student, he couldn't deny that hearing him say that, loudly and proudly... in public, had been more than a little embarrassing. "I'd always said that would be the death of you, but I never thought my words might have been prophetic. I almost thought I'd have to bring her in for team killing when I saw you flying out of that city. And Orochimaru..." He laughed once again as he recalled the look on the future traitor's face. "I'd never seen him so shocked." Had it not been for the situation, it would have been refreshing to see something other than apathy in the boy's expression.

"Heh. You know she's got herself a new epithet these days?"

"How could I not?" Hiruzen shook his head, smiling ruefully. "'The Legendary Sucker'. I still remember when Mito found out Hashirama, Lord First Hokage and co-founder of Konoha had managed to turn their three year old granddaughter into a gambling addict... that was one of the few times she lost her composure. I'm surprised his suffering that day didn't become a part of his legend; it was certainly the stuff of it. They could be heard halfway across the village."

Jiraiya burst out laughing, slapping his hand on his knee at the mental picture the legendary First Hokage utterly cowed before his irate wife. "Yeah right! Can you imagine anyone in Konoha letting THAT spread outside Konoha? I just wish I'd been old enough to remember it."

"And Tobirama just shook his head and said, 'And I'm destined to be his keeper... truly the gods have smiled on me'."

... And this was the man who built the first hidden village...

Jiraiya gave a few last chuckles and sighed. "Sounds like good times... shame it all fell apart."

Hiruzen nodded, his expression shifting to a solemn one. "The ninja world may have lost sight of it, but the hidden villages were built in the hopes of forming a peaceful world. That was the dream of Hashirama, Tobirama... even Madara before he lost his mind, according to the First the one time he talked about him. For a brief time, even the other leaders were swayed."

"And it's our job, and that of the next generations, to carry on that dream. Maybe one day it'll actually come true." Jiraiya stated before raising his cup in a toast. "To the bonds we share and those we've lost."

The God of Shinobi raised his cup and held it next to Jiraiya's. "May they never be forgotten."

* * *

><p>The four members of Team 7 had moved to Naruto's apartment after their celebratory dinner Mainly because they needed somewhere they probably wouldn't be overheard and the blond's home happened to be the closest to the sushi restaurant they wound up going to. As Sasuke looked over the apartment, his mind wandered back to the meal they shared earlier. He hadn't said much throughout the evening but he had enjoyed the outing a little, not that he'd ever admit it out loud. It brought back memories of a happier time, before is brother had revealed his true colors. Back when he had a family. Though the Uchiha household had never been so... lively. He'd actually been a bit of an oddity in their clan, clearly happy and outgoing... at least until that day he lost everything he cared about.<p>

Deciding to abandon that line of thought before it led to dark places, he turned to look at Sakura. He may not show it but he was worried about his teammate. While he could now say he was proud of his team, she was up against a killer and a very strong one. He was somewhat impressed by her growth as the old Sakura would probably have run screaming for him to help her but that didn't change the fact that there was a very real possibility this was a fight she wouldn't survive, forget about winning.

Naruto was thinking along the same lines. It was still a long way off and he had confidence in his teammate so it didn't show, but he did not like the idea of her fighting Gaara alone, especially after what he did to Misumi. That said if she was committed to this, he would just support her all the way and cheer her on. And if things went too far, he'd be ready to step in this time. He wouldn't just leave it to the proctor and let him drop the ball again.

Sakura was trying to keep her mind off of it until it was time to plan. As she took the first few steps into the apartment, she absently looked over the main room and noted it was surprisingly well taken care of. She also took notice of the flowerbed in his window, full of yellow and red flowers and clearly well taken care of. "So this is where you live? Kind of small, isn't it?"

Naruto stood up, revealing a green watering can which he placed in the sink before turning to Sakura. He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, it's not much, but its home."

"Somehow I expected... well..." Sakura trailed off, somewhat hesitant. "... a mess."

Naruto waved his hand in dismissal of the idea. "I learned a long time ago it sucks living in your own trash heap. Besides, I've always been on my own, so I had to learn to take care of myself."

"Always?" Sakura blinked. "But I thought... I mean, I knew you were an orphan, but... you don't remember your parents at all?"

Naruto frowned slightly as he shook his head and shrugged. That was a bit of a sore subject for him. "Nope. I don't even know what they looked like. And I was kind of a loner at the orphanage..." Well, more like the caretaker wanted nothing to do with him and told the kids to stay away from him. "... so I've always had to look after myself."

Sakura regretted bringing it up. "Oh... sorry. I didn't know."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Naruto replied as he grabbed a pair of chairs from his table, seeing Sasuke had beaten them all to the couch and was leaning on its arm with his usual dispassionate expression. "You didn't know."

Sakura didn't look any less troubled, but Kakashi interrupted. "Well," he began as he flipped a chair around so it was facing away his team, sitting down in the chair backwards with his arms resting on its back. "I think it's about time we got started."

"Right, what kind of training do you have in mind for us this time?" Naruto asked excitedly as he set a chair for Sakura and then himself.

Sakura didn't look the least bit fearful of what their training might entail this time. Honestly, she'd welcome anything that might give her a better chance of surviving now that she was determined to face the redheaded Suna genin.

"I think it goes without saying that you've got your work cut out for you. All of you ended up drawing some of your most dangerous rivals. First off, does anyone have any plans on how they can counter their opponent's strengths?" He had some of course, but he wanted to see if his students had any ideas of their own.

Naruto grinned, confident in the plan he'd come up with after seeing Lee's skills, even if it wasn't one he'd normally like to use. "I got one! I just need to learn a few tricks and work on what I've already got working for me, and I think I'll be all set for my fight with Lee."

"Is that so?" A familiar voice cut into their conversation along with the sound of an opening window, drawing their attention to Jiraiya sat, watching them from outside.

"Pervy Sage?" Naruto exclaimed, surprised no one had noticed him. Then again, he wasn't Konoha's spymaster for nothing.

Jiraiya had long since gotten used to the name and thus no longer felt a sting to his pride when he heard it. "Yo." He raised a hand in greeting. "When I heard about what happened at the prelims and I figured you could all probably use a hand." He then turned to Kakashi with a knowing smirk. "I'm guessing your planning on teaching Sasuke that Chidori of yours, huh?" Sasuke's eyes gained an interested gleam at that, remembering what he'd heard of Kakashi's signature jutsu during his discussion with Zabuza.

"Well... it depends." Kakashi said, causing the Uchiha to frown. "Sasuke doesn't meet the speed requirements for the jutsu just yet. If he can pull it off, then certainly. It would give him an edge and I'm pretty sure it could pierce the Hyuuga's rotation, but I'll need to come with something else if he can't pull it off." Kakashi easily resisted the urge to smirk at the fierce look in Sasuke's eye. Challenge accepted.

Kakashi almost chuckled. The Uchiha's pride was legendary. Poke it the right way and the normally stoic and dispassionate clan members would become as fiery as Kushina. "Considering who he's up against, Naruto could use to boost his speed too. Considering he's Gai's student, he's probably a lot stronger than he let on."

Jiraiya nodded. "I hear you. That goofball Gai's a hell of a lot stronger than you'd think. Wouldn't surprise me if Lee had a few tricks up his sleeve. Actually, mind if I take over the brat's training until the next round. I've got something in mind that should give him the edge he needs if whatever he's got in mind doesn't pan out."

Naruto's looked like a kid at his first Rinne Festival at that. Being trained by the Fourth Hokage's teacher? Who wouldn't jump at that chance?

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Kakashi asked, having a few suspicions as to what the Sannin intended to teach him.

"Oh, I'll let that be a surprise." Jiraiya replied before turning to Sakura. "Sakura, I hear you're up against Gaara. Tough luck there. I heard about what he did during his match. Think you're up to fighting him?"

Sakura nodded, her expression determined. "Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't back down, so I won't either. Besides, even if I can't win I can at least soften him up some for them. Sasuke at least will probably fight him, and looking out for each other is part of what it means to be a team, right?"

"Well said." Jiraiya reached into his kimono and pulled out a scroll. "Try this out. It might give you the edge you need, but I gotta warn you it does gonna be a tough trick to learn. Whether you want to work on it or not, it's up to you."

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Master Jiraiya."

"Oh don't thank me. You're going to need all the help you can get with who you're up against. Just be sure you know to back out if you're in over your head. I know far too many people get themselves killed because they didn't know when to quit." He turned a sly smirk to the blond present. "Kind of like a certain someone we know."

Naruto scoffed and crossed his arms stubbornly. "Better to stand tall and meet all your problems head on then chicken out!"

"Trust me kid, that depends on the situation. There are some times when you've just gotta know when to throw in the towel."

"Like when?" Naruto shot back.

"Like when pursuing something means not being there to save someone close to you." Naruto made a strangled sound. Jiraiya closed his eyes. "That's what I thought. You've got a lot to learn. But then, you're still young. That's what it means to grow up."

"... Maybe." Naruto conceded before looking at the Sannin. "But I won't back down no matter what's in front of me. I won't let myself fail, or let anyone close to me die; no matter what kind of hell I have to put myself through."

Jiraiya stared before shrugging with a grin. Chances are life would disillusion him but... it was a good dream to have. And maybe, just maybe, if he stuck to it and didn't back down, he might actually be a hero who protected everyone.

Just like the Fourth tried to be.

* * *

><p><strong>As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.<strong>

**Anyway, please review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey everyone. Here's the next chapter of Jinchuriki of the Six Paths.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>An orange blur shot across the rooftops as the morning's sun shined on Konoha. Making no sound, the figure sped across the village. Naruto could hardly contain his excitement to find out what Jiraiya planned on teaching him. Back when they were training as a team, Jiraiya had mostly focused on helping him with sealing jutsu, from the intricacies of the art to suggesting he take up calligraphy to improve the accuracy and speed of his writing, and a few tips here and there when it came to other fields but for the most part he'd let Kakashi and Zabuza take over. Apparently, Zabuza's training was more harsh than what he would have suggested anyway and Kakashi was a living library of ninjutsu, even if he couldn't actually use 60% of them effectively.<p>

This time around, the Sannin was directly taking the reins and Naruto couldn't wait to find out what he had in mind. Jiraiya had told him to meet him in a in a clearing near a waterfall just beyond the outskirts of the village. First though, he had to make a stop.

Soon enough he saw his destination, and wouldn't you know it just the person he wanted to talk to walked out of the building. Zabuza stood on the bottom step of the T and I HQ of the village, rubbing his head.

"Damn, glad that's over." The masked Jonin muttered. Aside from his discussions with Hiruzen, part of his probation required he report to Inoichi for evaluation, to ensure his loyalty was to the village and he wasn't secretly relaying information to the village of his birth.

Getting mind raped, suffice to say, and was not fun. Still, he couldn't deny it was an effective way to root out spies. He knew Kiri would love to get their hands on that kind of trick. It was a rare. Coveted ability and only a few villages, including Konoha, had such techniques.

"Yeah, well look at the bright side, you've only got another month to go." Anko supplied cheerfully as she leaned against the doorway.

"Is that supposed to be a comforting thought?" Zabuza turned and gave her a mildly annoyed stare.

Anko grinned cheekily. "Nope!"

Zabuza sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be glad when this is all over and done with."

"Yeah, I'll bet. So, want to grab a bite? I want to hear about how this is done in Kiri." Her grin turned slightly bloodthirsty. "I bet there's a lot I can learn from them. Konoha interrogators are a bit too cerebral for my liking. Oh, that's fun too, and I'm damn good at it, but the other way's a lot more amusing."

Zabuza was about to reply before a familiar voice cut him off. "Hey, Zabuza!" The former mist jounin and the purple haired kunoichi turned to see Naruto land nearby.

The swordsman raised a non-existent brow and crossed his arms. "You came to find me _here_? Impatient, aren't you brat?"

"Hey, I've got a cram as much training into the next month as I can! We're up against some tough customers, you know?"

"So I heard." Zabuza replied before reaching into his pocket, pulling out two scrolls and tossing them to the blond. "There you go. That all you wanted?"

"Yep! Thanks a lot!"

"Don't sweat it. Not like I had anything better to do." Zabuza said. He was seriously chaffing under this probation, but what can you do? It's not like he blamed them for being cautious around a guy who betrayed their previous leader, no matter the reason.

"How ya doing, Anko?" Naruto turned to the snake summoner, who shrugged.

"Eh, Same old same old. Nice showing the other day, brat. I figured you'd make it to the last round."

"Thanks. So, how're those three we brought you?"

Anko chuckled, giving the boy a somewhat feral smirk. "Ah, I had some real fun with those saps. Poor shmucks, one of them actually thought his boss cared about him." Her expression became somewhat strained as she shook her head, her mouth widening into a self-depreciating smile and an undercurrent of anger and shame filling her tone at how she was taken in by him in her youth and how her attempt to recent stop him had failed so utterly. "Heh, what some people let themselves believe, huh?"

Naruto frowned, guessing where her thoughts just went, before brightening up. "Hey, what do you expect? There just a couple of rookies like me, right? We don't know better from the start, that's what we have senseis for." Anko just huffed in response.

Zabuza saw it too, but showed no visible reaction. "That offer still up?" He asked, drawing her attention. "I'm not in the mood for something to eat, but I could use a drink."

"Same here. Luckily for me, I'm on break."

Naruto smirked at that before turned around, saying over his shoulder, "Well, I gotta get going. The Pervy Sage is waiting for me."

"Oh, you're not coming too?" Anko teased.

Naruto stopped and stared at her, his eyes wide and he pointed at her. "What the hell are you talking about? Have you gone blind? I'm underage!"

"So?" Zabuza questioned, causing Naruto to gape at him. He shrugged and gave the boy a look that said 'are you stupid'. "Kid, you've signed on to a profession that demands you kill and risk your life, regardless how you choose to act. The moment you put on that headband, you're considered an adult." He took in Naruto's incredulous stare before turning back to Anko. "Anyway, that's a moot point because I'm not paying so the brat can get wasted."

"I know. I just figured this blockhead had no idea about that little morsel of information, so I'd throw it out there so he didn't wait seven or eight years and miss out on the fun." Anko supplied cheerfully.

Naruto scoffed and walked away. "No skin off my bones. I've got better things to do than drink anyway. I've got training to get to."

* * *

><p>Naruto finally reached the clearing where Jiraiya had told him to meet and turned his head as his eyes scanned the area. It was a nice place, far removed from Konoha's training grounds. The small area was surrounded by dense gatherings of trees on all but one side with a river along its edge, vanishing into the tree line of either side. Dense foliage made it difficult to see between the trees and Naruto could hear a waterfall nearby. All in all it put him in mind of the training ground his team frequented.<p>

Which made Naruto frown somewhat. Why all the way here comes when there was an actual training ground that had the same advantages? It seemed like a waste to him.

Suddenly the sound of a happy, feminine laugh reached his ears from the same direction as the sound of crashing water. Naruto turned in the direction of the sound, instantly guessing what was going on and wanting to look as any healthy pubescent boy would, though whether he'd actually give into that temptation was up in the air. Three months ago he probably would have, but months of Haku and Ayame's lessons and better social knowledge taught him better. Then a wave of annoyance crashed over him, his eye twitching as it became as blatantly obvious as the glaring light of the sun just why the perverted Sannin had chosen this particular spot.

As if to prove his suspicions, the sound of a perverted giggle emanated from the foliage in the same direction as the waterfalls.

Naruto face palmed. "You gotta be kidding me..."

The Rinnegan bearer made a short walk through the trees and pushed aside a bush and sure enough, there was Jiraiya, peaking through the leaves at what was no doubt a gathering of nubile young women, playing in the water and oblivious to the pervert hiding nearby.

Naruto glared at the Sage before smirking. Just as he opened his mouth to yell out and alert the women to the peeping tom, Jiraiya said, "Don't even think about it.", causing the blond to freeze there with his mouth wide open. The renowned shinobi would have found the sight comical had he turned to look.

He stood stock still for a second before he slumped. "Damn it, how'd you know what I was going to do?"

"Easy, because I know you." The Sannin replied dryly, rising from his place and walking over to his student, easily suppressing the desire to stay rooted to that spot all day. He could return to them soon enough. "Now come on. I guess we might as well get started."

"Good. For a minute there, I thought I'd have to do something drastic to get your eyes off the ladies and onto my training." Naruto said, punching his open palm with his fist. He said as he stepped back into the clearing. "Alright, first things first." He made a cross shaped hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" 51 clones of the blond materialized in the around him. The blond nodded with a grin as he surveyed the crowd of identical blonds. "Alright guys, you know what to do!"

"Right Boss!" The clones chorused, each having been created with every thought of the original, including what he had in mind for them, as well as copies of everything in his possession. They split, twenty working on each jutsu while another ten worked on chakra control.

The Sannin watched, shaking his head at the efficiency of the technique and wishing he'd thought of it decades ago, the memory of a redheaded woman flashed into his mind. She might have pulled off her dream had they thought this up rather than let her husband take the spot light, suited for it he might be.. His expression turned somber as he remembered how they were taken before their time in the midst of a tragedy.

However, he then raised a brow as Naruto turned back to him. "And what's this one for?" He gestured at the remaining clone.

"I need a jutsu from you for my match with Lee, Pervy Sage!"

He looked at him incredulously. "Another one?"

"Yep! I got a plan worked out to take down Bushy Brows if he can open up more of those gates like he did against Shino. It's not really my thing, but it'll work. Besides, it'll be really useful in other situations."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "What makes you think he can pull off the Hidden Lotus?"

Naruto blinked. "Hidden Lotus? Is that what it's called?" He shrugged. "You make it sound like a big deal."

"That's because it is." Jiraiya insisted. "You wouldn't know because you haven't tried it, but opening each gate gets exponentially harder to pull off."

Naruto put his hands behind his head and smiled sheepishly, chuckling a little. "Yeah, I didn't even know you could open them until I saw Lee do it." He admitted.

"My point exactly." It wasn't that surprising. A lot of Shinobi didn't even know they existed, let alone anything about the process of opening them. Jiraiya rubbed his chin and looked away, his expression thoughtful. "Still, you have a point. Knowing Gai he might have actually taught him that. It wouldn't surprise me. That goof's always had a habit of going overboard. And he probably sees himself and his old man in the kid." He mumbled that last part. "Alright, so what do you need from me?" Naruto told him what he was thinking of. "Yeah, that would work..." The Sannin mused, thinking over it. "But most techniques like that are earth jutsu." He grinned, "Luckily for you I just so happen to know one of the few that aren't!"

The blond grinned as he reached into the pouch at his back and pulled out a scroll, plopping down and opening it. Having his clones learn three jutsu at once was a bit more than he could handle, which was why he just wanted Jiraiya to show this clone how it was done so he could work on it later. "Good, then show it to him while I..."

"Actually-" Jiraiya interrupted his student, causing him to look up at him. "I've got something special in mind for you."

"Eh?" Naruto rose to his feet. "What is it, Pervy Sage?"

Jiraiya chuckled, grinning as he leapt back, striking another one of his dramatic poses. "Prepare for the shock of your life, brat! Watch and be amazed at the gift the gallant Jiraiya is about to bestow upon you!" With that, he bit his thumb to draw blood and ran through several hand signs before slamming his palm on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" The Sannin disappeared in a burst of smoke. When the cloud cleared, he was once again sitting on the back of an enormous toad, but this time it was holding a large scroll in its mouth.

The toad opened its maw, using its tongue to have the scroll to Naruto.

The Rinnegan bearer looked at the scroll and something clicked in his mind. "Is this their summoning contract?"

"That's right, Naruto! This scroll bears the names of everyone who the toads have allowed to call on them throughout the generations, and now as my student, it is your turn to join them." Jiraiya stood tall on the back of the summoned toad, crossing his arms and smirking. "Be sure to take note of the names forever engraved on it before writing your own."

Naruto did just that, unrolling the scroll until he found a blank spot. Five spaces were filled before the opening, the first three he didn't recognize and the fourth was Jiraiya's. But the Fifth was the one that drew his attention.

Minato Namikaze, better known as the Fourth Hokage. Naruto blinked before grinning widely at that.

Jiraiya's smirk grew when he saw Naruto had noticed what he wanted him to see. "Now, write your name in blood and press your fingerprint beneath it, just like those before you." As Naruto did so, he continued, "Once this is done, you can call them whenever you want or need. Simply place the hand you signed with on the ground and supply chakra after making the boar, dog, bird, monkey and sheep hand seals. Give it a try."

"Way ahead of you, Pervy Sage!" Naruto said as he finished making the hand signs. "Summoning Jutsu!" Identical to what happened moments before, Naruto vanished in a cloud of smoke, which cleared to reveal a toad similar to Jiraiya's but with different markings, covered with armor and armed with a katana. The toad croaked as it stood on its hind legs, holding its sword at the ready, its front pair of legs a cross between what you'd expect of a toad and human arms. "Awesome! I summoned a samurai!" The toad croaked and held his sword at the ready, preening under his summoner's approval.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Good for a first try, kid. Trust me, that's the least the least they can do. The toads are one of the most adaptable of all summon species. There are toads with unique abilities, toads that excel as messengers, toads that can breathe fire, toads with natural barriers that can conceal you from your enemies for a quick getaway. You've got a lot to learn."

Naruto was clearly excited by what he was being told. "However," Jiraiya shifted and became serious, dampening the blond's enthusiasm somewhat. "Unlike the ones you've seen so far, the upper echelons of the toads, no, of all summons, are capable of speech and are some can be very prideful and formal beings. If you don't show them proper respect and earn their acknowledgement, don't expect them to heed your commands. And they're far stronger, and in many cases larger than their brethren. One even aided the Fourth and held the Kyuubi off for a while during its attack all those years ago."

"Whoa..." Naruto's face shifted to a determined one as he raised a clenched fist. "I'll do my best to earn that respect. Just you watch, Pervy Sage."

"Heh. I'm sure you will." Jiraiya said before he gave the blond a grin. One that sent shivers down his spine. The look in the white haired man's eyes looked way too similar to the Zabuza's before he put him and his team through something particularly hellish. "Now, I think its time we get to the down to the physical aspect of our training today." He nodded to the toads, which disappeared in bursts of smoke.

Burying any apprehension he felt, Naruto said, "What is it Pervy Sage?"

"Well... let's take a short walk we get started, alright?" With that, he led him away from the clearing. They continued to walk, navigating the foliage for about a minute before he nodded to himself at seeing a particularly large tree. "Yeah, this place looks good enough..." And with that, he kneeled down and rolled out another scroll. In a burst of smoke, three weights appeared, each with a rope attached to the top.

Naruto raised a brow. "Oh, we're doing some weight training?"

"Something likes that..." There was that grin again. The Rinnegan bearer couldn't help but have a bad feeling about this. "Our friends from the Land of Water have really inspired me, you know? Gave me some pretty good ideas on how to put you on Lee's level quick."

"Oh? And how's that?"

"Well, speed and most taijutsu depend on the legs, so..."

* * *

><p>"IS THIS YOUR IDEA OF A JOKE PERVY SAGE!? GET ME DOWN!" Naruto hanging upside down from a thick branch with three 40 lbs. weights tied to his wrists and waist. His knees were bent across the branch, keeping him up...<p>

... Suspended over a pot of boiling water sitting atop a roaring fire. The heat of the steam that rose from the bubbling surface and surrounded him as it rose to the sky was causing him to begin to sweat as he stared into the foaming water beneath him.

"Careful there Naruto." A clone of Jiraiya, who had returned to his peeping said. Trying, and failing, to resist the urge to laugh. "Don't move around too much or that branch might snap."

"PERVY SAGE!"

* * *

><p>Hinata sat beside Kurenai on the tatami mats in a meeting room in the main manor of the Hyuuga compound. A place she hadn't been since she'd become a genin. Since she'd been all but disowned for being meek, useless, despite being the heir. Only her status as the firstborn child of the clan head had protected her from being made a member of the Branch Family, the thought of what that would entail made her shudder to this day.<p>

And sitting on a pillow in front of her was the man who had placed her in Kurenai's care and seemingly washed his hands of her. Her father: Hiashi Hyuuga. The man's imperious gaze washed over the pair of kunoichi. Hinata wanted to look away, as she had so many times before when she'd been in this situation. She could the feel the urge to give in and turn her head away from his stern eyes, but she refused to.

Naruto would never back down. That's what she kept reminding herself.

As Hiashi looked down on his daughter, seeing her stare back at him, while her expression wasn't what one would call determined nevertheless able to meet his eyes he couldn't help but feel proud of how far she'd come. It did pain him, if only slightly, that she hadn't done so under his tutelage.

Any ill feelings over that were ruthlessly quashed in an instant however. He'd done what he had to. Contrary to how he portrayed himself, he hadn't wanted to basically hand his daughter away as he had. Politics, no matter the venue, was often an ugly business. The elders couldn't stand having such a weak, timid girl as the heiress to the clan and many, his own father included, had pushed him to place her in the Branch House.

That was something he absolutely would not do, but so long as they felt her apparent weakness reflected on the clan due to her position, there was always the risk of it, and a clan head's power wasn't absolute. The fate of his brother was proof of that.

Either all but disown her, or risk her being placed in the Branch House. Those were his options, and he chose the lesser of the two evils.

"You've done well, Hinata." He finally said, causing his daughter to look surprised.

Hinata could only wonder if she'd heard right. It had been years since he'd praised her in anything, and when he had it had mostly been on her behavior when she was still young, when it was acceptable, if frowned upon for her to be somewhat timid.

"It seems we may have misjudged you, or perhaps you're beginning to grow out of whatever it was that held you back." He continued, his gaze focused on his daughter. "I would like to see just how much you've improved over the past few months. If you're deemed adequate, I will take up your training once again." Honestly, he was somewhat looking forward to this. The fact that she made it this far proves she must have potential, so that meant the fault for her lack of progress had to lie with him. Somehow, it seemed his earlier teachings did her more harm than good. He hoped to make up for that.

He easily noticed Kurenai's glare, hard as she tried to hide it. Without knowing what had gone into his decision, she no doubt thought that he only cared about his daughter as an extension of his legacy, a tool for the greatness of the clan and a representation of its power. She probably assumed he'd callously discarded her like any broken tool when he left Hinata in her care and told her she was hers to deal with.

Knowing what she was probably thinking, he couldn't blame her and thus ignored it.

"I- I see." Hinata said, her mouth spreading into a soft smile. This was the closest to proud her father had been to her in years. Regardless of how he'd treated her, she treasured his words. "Thank you, father."

Hiashi frowned slightly at her stutter. He'd have to find the root of her apprehensive streak while he taught her. The clan elders would no doubt take this as a sign that she hadn't really changed at all. Perhaps her sister could help. They were close, after all. Closer than he was to either of them. It might do them both good to train together... on the other hand, if Hanabi was still stronger than her it could destroy the burgeoning confidence Hinata was showing. And given how kind-hearted she was she might hold back against her sister, but while Hanabi cared for Hinata she wouldn't do the same as she'd consider it an insult.

No, they wouldn't train together. Not until he was certain Hinata could hold her own and wouldn't hold back because she didn't want to fight her younger sister. He would have to have them talk outside the of training field.

His daughters had a chance he and his brother never had due to the circumstances of their birth; to stand together as equals, rather than as a caged bird and its master. He didn't want to see it wasted.

"We will begin tomorrow. Be prepared and don't disappoint me." He sincerely hoped she didn't.

"Yes, father."

* * *

><p>Naruto laid on his back, every muscle in his leg cramping as he stared up at the sky. He tried hard to focus on cloud watching while he waited to feel something from his legs other than pain.<p>

Two hours. He'd been in that tree for two hours... His legs felt like they were littered with nails, drilling through skin, muscle and bone.

"Good job. I was sure you'd fall in at least once. Get used to it, we'll be doing that three times a week from here on out." He head Jiraiya say, causing him to sit up and throw a glare in his direction only to blink when he saw that the Sannin was holding a pair of light blue popsicles, smirking down at his student. "I figured you could use a break after that. This should be just what you need after hanging" He threw one of the popsicles to Naruto, who caught it. "So here's to a job well done."

"Thanks, Pervy Sage." Naruto said before he tasted the frozen treat, clearly enjoying both the taste and the cold. Jiraiya chuckled as he sat down beside him.

Minutes passed in silence as they enjoyed their snacks before something occurred to Naruto and he looked to his current sensei. "Say." He began, drawing Jiraiya's eyes to him. "What was it like being the old man's student?"

"The Third?" Jiraiya asked before chuckling as Naruto continued to eat his treat. "He was a great teacher. Better than me or Kakashi, that's for sure. You know he managed to master all five elements?"

Naruto was amazed to hear that. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, and that was before he took us under his wing. He pretty much excelled in every area of the Shinobi Arts. He's not called the God of Shinobi for nothing, you know."

"Whoa..."

"He was wise even back then too, he hasn't changed in that department in all the time I've known him, and he always brought out the best in us..." '_Well, aside from when I taught him my Transparency Jutsu..._' "We had some real fun back in those days."

Naruto frowned. "Even Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya's look soured. "Yeah, even him. There was a time when he was like a brother to me, but suffice to say that time is long past."

"What happened to him?"

"Honestly? I don't have a clue. He was always withdrawn and apathetic, but when it was needed he showed he cared. He shared the pain when we lost someone. He stood alongside us through thick and thin. He was always kinda on the creepy side, but he was a good guy once." The Sannin scowled. "But somewhere along the line, he changed. He never really got over the loss of his parents when he was a child, and we were pretty young back during the Second Shinobi World War. Maybe that got to him. I don't know. He withdrew from us and started working with this militaristic hardliner who used to be on the council: Danzo. His group got up to some pretty unsavory stuff, so it was no surprise he kept to himself. I guess deep down we knew something was wrong. That's why the old man passed him over for the title of Fourth Hokage."

"WHAT!? Orochimaru could have been the Fourth!?" The blond's face was frozen into an expression of pure shock as his mind supplied the image of Orochimaru, his mouth widened into that sadistic smile as he looked out at Konoha, wearing the Hokage's robes and chuckling sinisterly. His brain temporarily shut down as it rebelled against that picture.

Jiraiya nodded with a grunt of agreement. "Thankfully, the Third could tell something was off about him. It wasn't long after that when he found out he'd been kidnapping people; civilians, shinobi, even children and infants for his sick experiments." He shook his head in disgust. "I chased after him, trying to help him, to find out what drove him to betray everything we fought for, what happened to the brother I once knew but eventually... I realized he was beyond any hope of helping." His eyes rose to the sky, watching the clouds drift by. "Let me tell you, there's nothing more painful than looking back on what should be happy memories only to find them tainted." He sighed.

Naruto looked down at the grass, with a pensive expression. What would he do if he was in their shoes? If someone that close to him betrayed him. After a few moments, he didn't have to think about it. He knew if there was any hope of saving them at all, he'd pursue them to the ends of the earth if he had to. That's who he was. Someone who would never let those he cared about suffers or destroys themselves if he could help it. "I'd probably do the same thing, Pervy Sage."

Jiraiya chuckled slightly and gave a knowing smile. "Yeah, I figured." He then frowned, giving Naruto a serious expression. "But listen, you need to be sure you can recognize when someone like that's too far gone." The Rinnegan bearer's gaze rose to meet his own. "The old man and I let our old bonds get the better of us and let Orochimaru go, and look what happened. Everything he's done, all the people who've suffered at his hands or fallen prey to his experiments, it's all because we didn't take him out when we had the chance. Don't make that mistake if you ever wind up in that situation, got it. You'll regret it for the rest of your life."

Naruto thought on it for a moment, his expression serious as he contemplated his words before finally he said, "I get what you're saying..." He looked up at the sage, a determined look in his hidden eyes. "But if I think there's any chance to save them at all, I'm not just gonna write them off as a lost cause. Besides, even if I did just wind up regretting it, I'd regret it more if I wound up killing them and I thought it didn't have to end that way."

Jiraiya sighed. "Well, I hope that's never put to the test. It could be the people around you who wind up paying the biggest price of all." He smirked. "But who can say? Things might turn out better for you. Hell, if you're lucky you'll never have to be in that situation at all. All I can say is remember that whatever happens, you're going to have to live with yourself, so do what you feel is right."

Naruto grinned. "You didn't have to tell me that, Pervy Sage. That's half the reason I'll never back down from anything."

* * *

><p>Ino hummed to herself as she watered the potted flowers on display in her family's shop. She stopped and gently touched the petals of the nearest flower, a red carnation, to bring it closer to her face, inhaling its sweet fragrance.<p>

She set the pot down and began to make her way back to the counter when the door opened, drawing her attention. Haku stepped inside followed by Sakura.

"Hey Haku. Here to take a look around? Or maybe you're looking for flowers for a certain someone?" Ino questioned, giving him a sly look as she made her way to the back room.

The ice user shook his head. "Unfortunately no. I haven't been lucky enough to get to know the right person just yet. I just ran into Sakura and decided to come along."

"Well when you find her, be sure to stop by. Nothing says how you feel like the right flowers. Speaking of which-" She came back out with a large pot containing a shrub with beautiful white, star shaped flowers, the top most petal being yellow in color. "Here's your order Forehead. Be careful with it, I shouldn't have to tell you the pollen's dangerous." she said, using her frenemy's nickname without any malice.

"I know that, Ino-pig. Why do you think I ordered it?" Sakura asked, annoyed by the blonde's lack of faith in her.

"Ok, that'll be 1500 Ryo. Where're you keeping these, by the way?"

"Oh, nowhere special. We've got a few rooms we don't really use so my mom's letting me use one as a greenhouse." Sakura said as she pulled out her wallet and gave Ino the money.

"Sounds like a nice set up."

"I guess so, but I'll probably need to find a bigger place sooner or later." Sakura shrugged.

Ino finished ringing up her purchase and handed her a receipt. "Ok, they're all yours. So, is this just for your career as a kunoichi, or have you started to grow a green thumb?."

Sakura shrugged, smiling as she thought back to the vibrantly colored and more often than not toxic flora that filled the once empty room, lined up in rows and shelves. Many of them were still young, but the mass of flowers were never the less a sight to behold. She could only imagine their splendor once fully grown. "Eh, it's a nice hobby. Taking care of them is kind of relaxing. It's a good place to sit and read or just look at them all... at least it is when I let myself forget that most of what I'm growing has some horrible toxin hiding in it."

Ino smirked. "Just goes to show you how beautiful things can be deadly."

"Any given kunoichi would be living proof of that." Haku chimed in.

"Oh? Present company included?" Ino asked, hoping to fluster the boy.

The ice user just took it in stride however. Haku smiled at Ino. And replied "I believe you, Ino, are much like these roses here. You're still budding, not yet in full bloom, but you've already got sharp thorns, and will eventually blossom into a beautiful kunoichi."

Ino flushed, staring at him for a moment and clearly caught off guard, causing Haku to chuckle at her reaction. This wasn't what supposed to happen. He should be a stuttering wreck entranced by her beauty! Then something he said clicked and she glared. "Wait a minute, what was that about thorns?!"

Haku simply smiled. "As you said, 'beautiful things can be deadly'. You're potential as a kunoichi is as clear as your budding beauty. I'm sure you'll develop into a powerful and alluring kunoichi."

Ino flushed once more but then chuckled bitterly. "I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult. In case you haven't heard, I kind of flopped out at the exams."

"Against an opponent who, from what I've been told is a few years older than you." Haku replied, his expression suddenly serious. "You've only been a kunoichi for a few months. Am I correct in assuming this is first time you've encountered a challenge you couldn't overcome?" Ino hesitated before nodding. "You see? You were untested. And now that you know how you stack up, will you let that happen again?" In a real mission, when your comrades lives are counting on you?

"Of course not!"

He nodded and smiled. "And that is why I'm sure you'll become a great kunoichi. Many shinobi would fall into a state of depression after such a loss and question themselves, but you're already rising above it. You have potential Ino, you just haven't found it yet."

Ino smiled confidently and raised fist. "Thanks. You're right, I'm not giving up until I bloom." Haku returned her smile. She then turned to Sakura. "You hear that forehead? I'm going to catch up to you, just you watch!"

Sakura gave her an excited grin as she replied, "I'd expect nothing else from my biggest rival."

"Speaking of blooming, you've only got a month to get ready to fight Gaara. Think you're up to it?"

That let the wind out of Sakura's sails. She righted herself. "I don't have a choice. Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't back down, so I won't either."

"Then you should make the most of this month. Gaara looks like a dangerous opponent." Haku said, his expression dead serious as he looked out the window.

"I know he- wait..." Sakura looked at the ice user curiously. "How do you know what he looks like?"

"Because he's standing right there." Haku replied, causing the girls to turn their heads so fast it was a miracle they hadn't gotten whiplash. Standing there on the other side of the street was Gaara, his unblinking glare focused on Sakura. The pink haired kunoichi refused to show how intimidated she was and stared back for a moment before the sand shinobi huffed and went on his way.

Once he was gone, Sakura let out the breath she was holding. Haku's solemn eyes remained where Gaara once stood. '_I've seen that look before. That boy... He's someone who has no one, no purpose, broken like I once was but he's gone further. He despises this world for wronging him. His eyes are looking for one thing... to kill._'

"Well forehead." Ino said, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder. She gave a comforting squeeze as the pink haired girl turned to Ino's compassionate and pitying look. "It was nice knowing you. I'll take care of Sasuke for you, so rest easy."

"DON'T JUST KILL ME OFF YET!"

* * *

><p>The sky was painted a brilliant red by as the sun began to vanish beyond the horizon. Naruto lay on his back once again, staring up at the orange clouds. His chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily. The boy was battered and bruised, every ounce of his enormous energy reserves exhausted from training and sparring with Jiraiya. His sunglasses had been knocked off in the battle, his purple ringed eyes revealed to the world as he lay on his back.<p>

"Well, I think that's about enough for the day." Jiraiya said, looking up at the sky before his gaze fell on his student. "We made good progress today, kid. I think it's about time for you to head home."

"Ok, that's good." Naruto said breathlessly, completely wiped out and only half paying attention to what the sage was saying.

"Oh, that's right. There's one last thing I want you to try, now that you're good and exhausted."

That snapped the blond back to reality and his shot up and stared incredulously at his teacher. "Seriously, Pervy Sage?"

"Yep." Jiraiya crossed his arms and nodded. "I want you to try the summoning jutsu."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, clearly perplexed. "What the hell, are you kidding me? You saw me use that jutsu already! Besides, trying that could kill me!"

The toad summoner of the Sannin waved off his concerns with a confident smile. "Relax, I wouldn't let something like that happen. Trust me on this."

"And just how's this supposed to help me at all?"

Jiraiya sighed before tilting his head. "Naruto, have you ever felt another chakra, other than what your used to? Something worlds stronger than what your used to?"

Naruto looked at his hands, he brow furrowed as he thought of something he'd noticed not too long ago. "Well... there is something weird going on with my chakra."

The white haired man raised a brow, intrigued. "Oh? Describe it to me."

"I can't really. I mean, I'm not sure how to describe it." He shook his head. "I didn't even notice it until a little while ago but... my chakra's been getting stronger... and easier to control, I think. And when I look at it, you know, with these eyes, there are traces of chakra that's... different. It's still mine, but its changed somehow."

Now Jiraiya frowned. That wasn't like anything he'd heard of before. There were many cases of chakra changing, but that was almost invariably because of something its owner did, some jutsu they used or due to experiments or augmentations performed on them. He'd never heard of anything like that happening spontaneously before, and it definitely wasn't what he was looking for.

'_Is it because of the Rinnegan? Did the same thing happen with Nagato and he just didn't notice it or chose not to speak up?_' Jiraiya thought as he scrutinized the blond, who continued to peer at his hand and the chakra that ran through it with his dōjutsu. '_I'd hoped he would have felt the Kyuubi's chakra at least once, but I guess the Rinnegan's awakening superseded it._' Finally, he shook his head. "That's not what I was looking for. Honestly, I've never heard of anything like that before, but I think it might be connected to your eyes. There's a lot about them we don't know and that's the best explanation I can think of."

"But then what were you-" Naruto stopped suddenly, a look of realization coming over his features before he glared at his sensei. "You're asking me about the Kyuubi's chakra, aren't you?"

Jiraiya nodded. "You're not just a cage for the Kyuubi. You're meant to be able to harness its power, but from the sound of it you haven't managed to tap into it yet."

Naruto stared at him blankly. "I think I'd know if I tapped into the power of a giant demon fox."

Jiraiya chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty hard to miss." He became serious again. "But listen, there are trials up ahead that you'll need to be ready for. Things that'll make this exam look like cake walk, even with my old teammate's interference. Your eyes are one tool, a powerful one, but it might not be enough with the time you have."

Naruto continued to give his sensei a deadpanned stare. "So, what? You want me to somehow suddenly tap into a power I've never used before? Is that what you're telling me? Do you know how stupid that sounds?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched and he opened his mouth to respond before cupped his chin and stared up at the sky, actually thinking about it for a moment. "You have a point there. There is a another way that's a better shot, but..."

"What?"

"Don't worry about it. Alright, we'll try it that way. Meet me a quarter of a mile northwest of the north gate tomorrow, ok?"

Naruto frowned, looking suspiciously at his sensei. "What are you planning, Pervy Sage?"

Jiraiya gave him a mischievous grin. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

* * *

><p>Naruto walked through the forest surrounding the village, following his sensei's directions. He couldn't help but wonder why his sensei was telling him to meet all the way out here, but he drew a blank. There was nothing out here as far as he knew, just densely packed trees and foliage. He looked around, but he didn't see anything that stood out. As far as he knew, there was no reason for anyone to be out here.<p>

But maybe that was the point, considering what it was they were messing with. Naruto couldn't deny he had some trepidation about tapping into the power of the fox, but from what he could tell the Sage wasn't exaggerating about the threat he alluded to. He wasn't about to risk someone getting hurt for him because he didn't want to use a something available to him.

Finally, he brushed a bush out of the way and saw the Sage leaning against a tree, the man's black eyes turning to him as he stepped out from the trees.

"Ah, there you are, Pervy Sage." Naruto said as he made his way over to him. "So, what was the point of coming to this place?"

"Oh, I had my reasons." Jiraiya answered as he stepped away from the tree, now standing in front of his student. His expression grim as he looked down at his student. "The other day you asked about a better way to tap into the power buried inside you. I'll admit, in retrospect my old idea wasn't the best plan I've come up with, but this one's sure to work. Listen up, Naruto because this one's sink or swim."

Naruto became as serious as the Sage. He still wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea, but he never backed down from anything. "Alright, Pervy Sage. What's the plan?"

"It's simple." He said, stepping closer. '_Forgive me for the scare I'm about to give him, Minato._' "Either you tap into the power buried inside you." He placed his index finger on the leaf insignia on Naruto's forehead protector, bringing a look of confusion to the blond's face. "Or you die."

And with that, he pushed. Suddenly, Naruto found himself flying through the trees, leaves rustling and scatting in his wake as the wind rushed past him and he felt slight stings as branches lashed at his back as he pushed through them. That simple finger poke from the Sannin being enough to propel him through the air so fast he'd need his dōjutsu to keep track of his surroundings. He was moving nearly as fast as a Body Flicker.

His trip lasted only a few seconds, and then he came to an abrupt halt as the momentum that had carried him vanished...

... And he found himself hovering over a ravine so deep he couldn't see the bottom, inching down as gravity began to reassert itself. Then it returned full force and the blond was falling rapidly.

"PERVY SAAAGE!"

Jiraiya walked to the edge of the cliff and crossed his arms. He actually had several clones waiting down in the darkness in case the Rinnegan bearer couldn't cut it, but he had every confidence that he would succeed. Still, it never hurt to have an insurance policy for when things went wrong.

The easiest way to tap into ones true potential was when death loomed over you, ready to drag you off into the next world. The fear and desperation to escape its clutches, or rescue someone you cared about from the same, would drive you to dredge up power you never knew you had, provided you had the will to rise above the despair. '_And as far as you know, you now face certain death. Show me what you can do, Naruto._'

* * *

><p>"Damn it, this is bullshit, Pervy Sage! Wait till I get my hands on you, you hear me!?" Naruto yelled to the sky as he fell deeper and deeper. Desperately, he tried to grab onto one of the canyon walls with his chakra, but he was falling too fast and the wall was too steep for him to stick to it. And so he continued his descent, ever closer to apparent death.<p>

'_What the hell was he thinking!? If I can't figure out a way out of this, I'm as good as dead! I don't have any other jutsu that'll slow me down, it has to be summoning. I have to summon something big enough to stop my fall or I'll die..._' He thought to Iruka, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, the old man, Konohamaru, Teuchi and Ayame; the family he'd finally found. His friends, Haku, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Hinata, Kiba. He thought of his dream of becoming Hokage. All gone, his friends mourning and his dreams dashed because he blew his sensei's insane idea of a test?

'_Hell no!_' He mentally snarled, his resolve both to survive this and to get back at his sensei absolute. He was not about die, not now and definitely not like this!

And just as Jiraiya had expected, his will to escape the icy grasp of death called up a power buried inside him. A power he didn't know he had.

However, it wasn't the power Jiraiya was expecting.

The world fell away and memories once lost came flooding back. In an instant he was back on that bridge in Wave, standing before Haku with Sasuke seemingly dead behind him. Like a tape on fast forward, the events sped before his vision. He watched as Haku mounted a futile battle against the power of the newly awakened Rinnegan bearer. He sensed the change as he rushed towards Haku for his final attack before his mask broke and he came to his senses and recoiled in mild horror when he recalled what he would have done to the ice user had he not snapped back to his senses at the last moment.

And then he was back in the real world, a whitish blue aura flaring around him as his Rinnegan glowed and developed further. Knowledge engraved into his genetic makeup filled his mind as his dōjutsu responded to his current predicament.

'_Animal Path._'

Instinct guided his actions. There were no hand seals. He did not draw blood. There was no need for either. All he did was clap his hands together.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

* * *

><p>At the top of the ravine, Jiraiya started as he felt the surge of chakra and saw the glowing blue dot far down in the darkness illuminated the massive crevice before it in a cloud of smoke. He immediately thought that the training was wasted, though he noted Naruto's chakra felt a bit more potent than usual, its volume allowing even those without developed sensing abilities to feel it. Biju chakra was red as opposed to the blue most other beings possessed and it lacked the malevolent feeling of the Kyuubi's chakra. It was definitely Naruto's own, if more dense than it should be even considering what he was and his lineage.<p>

Then all his thoughts ground to a halt, his jaw dropping as the cloud was blown away and the summon propelled itself and Naruto high into the air, hovering above the ravine.

That's right, hovering. Because what Naruto had summoned was in no way, shape or form a toad.

Rather, Naruto glared down at his sensei as he stood upon the head of a bizarre bird.

While the body of the bird was fairly standard, aside from the fact that it was the size of a boss summon, the creature had three legs like the legendary Yatagarsu. It's beak also was a point of note. It was oddly shaped, massive in size and jagged, with points directed at the front. Large black stakes were impaled at the base of its neck and its breast area. However, even that wasn't the most distinctive thing about Naruto's summon.

It was the fact that it had Rinnegan eyes.

Jiraiya openly gaped as he looked up at the bird, watching as, with a stronger flap of its wings, it soared over his head, turned around and set itself down. Its massive size crushed trees beneath it.

Naruto glared down at his sensei, seeing him from both his own perspective and through the summoned bird's eyes before he hopped down and walked over to the man. The perverted sage silently watched Naruto walk over to him, surprise still clear on his features.

"What the hell was that, Pervy Sage!?" Naruto shouted once he was inches away from his current teacher, rising up to get as close to his face as he could. "You could of killed me with that stunt! What kind of teacher are you!?"

That knocked Jiraiya out of his stupor. He raised his fists and replied angrily. "What do you take me for brat!? There were clones waiting at the bottom of the ravine! You were never in any actual danger!" He'd expected it, but it still aggravated him to hear that. Moving on, he pointed at the unmoving avian, his expression; a mix between his previous irritation and shock with large, solid white eyes was almost comical. "And what the hell is with that bird!?"

Naruto scoffed before turning back to the bird, seeing himself and Jiraiya through its eyes. He frowned as he stared back into his own eyes. He was honestly a little creeped out by it. He didn't sense anything from it.

Oh, he saw its chakra of course, mingled together with his own, but... The connection that allowed him to share senses with it was different than that with his clones. He almost felt like he was inside its head and there was nothing there. It was like the thing had no mind of its own, unlike every other summon he had seen so far. It didn't even seem to have the mind of an animal really. It was more like...

... Like a living puppet.

Experimentally, he thought about the bird flapping its wings and a moment later it did so, the resulting gust of air blowing back the hair of the student teacher duo as they shielded their faces from the debris.

"Well?" Jiraiya said, calling his attention back a moment later.

"Well obviously, it's another one of my dojutsu." Naruto said. "When I was falling, it all just came to me. I remembered my fight with Haku and suddenly... I just knew how to summon it."

Jiraiya nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That sounds about right for a kekkei genkai."

"I can see out of its eyes too, like with my clones."

"That's a useful trick." Jiraiya mused. "Can you summon anything else?"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond when more information flooded his head. Glimpses of other creatures; a dog with multiple heads, a chameleon, a rhino, each bearing the Rinnegan flashed into his mind. He frowned and gripped his head, groaning slightly. "... Yeah. I think so."

"Well, it's not what I was going for, but it looks like you did manage to unlock a dormant power. So there's that at least." Jiraiya said. He then tilted his head and frowned when he saw Naruto staring at his hand. "Something wrong?"

Yeah, something was wrong. He didn't know what, but something had changed since he activated this power. The Animal Path, some unknown part of his mind supplied. Something within him had shifted and his power just felt different. He had a feeling that he couldn't use the abilities he'd become accustomed to. Spying a stick on the ground, he pointed his hand at it, channeling his chakra.

'_Bansho Tennin._' Nothing. The stick didn't budge an inch. Jiraiya continued to watch curiously as Naruto growled in frustration.

"Bansho Tennin!" Naruto yelled, pouring far more chakra into the technique than he normally did. Again, nothing.

Naruto looked at his hand again before he closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on the change he felt. Jiraiya walked around him, observing the blond's face. His earlier exclamation made it clear what the problem was, but he was a bit out of his depth on what to do about it.

Seconds passed before Naruto managed to grasp onto the change and tried to force it back into what he was familiar with. It took a lot of effort, his power responding like molasses, sticking and resisting his attempts to force it where he wants it to go before finally he felt something click.

'_Deva Path._'

And then everything felt normal again. It had taken him 10 seconds to force it once he found the issue. Pointing his hand at the stick, he tried once again.

'_Bansho Tennin._' The stick flew from the ground and into his pal, causing Naruto to raise his arms and let out a cheer.

"Yes! I got it!"

"Great. Now care to share it with the class?" Jiraiya questioned dryly and so Naruto told him what happened, the blond having moved closer to the bird as he did.

"It's like..." Naruto searched for a word when he finished his explanation. "... Like circuits. And I can only have one on at a time."

"Hm. Well, I guess everything has to have a drawback. Though, chances are the time it takes to change 'circuits' as you put it will decrease the more you've mastered your eye's powers. For now though, it's a pretty big weak spot." Jiraiya mused before looking at the bird. "Though it looks like active effects are persistent." He then smiled and added cheerfully, "But at least now you can actually use more than just those first two powers. I'd say this exercise was a success, wouldn't you agree my student?"

The Rinnegan bearer glared at him. "Yeah, exercise." Naruto spoke through gritted teeth. He then gave a slightly feral grin, similar to the ones he'd seen on Anko before she screwed someone over. "By the way, Pervy Sage?"

"... Yeah?" Jiraiya said with a slight sense of trepidation, not liking that look on his face.

'_Shinra Tensei!_' Jiraiya suddenly found himself propelled through the air as a wave of gravity slammed into him. He only went a short distance, a scant few seconds before the power released him.

Of course, by then he was already hovering in the air above the ravine.

"Damn BRAAAAT!" Jiraiya cried out as the world's natural gravity reasserted its dominance.

"How do you like that?! No one throws Naruto Uzumaki off a cliff and gets away with it!" Naruto crowed as he and the bird watched Jiraiya vanish into the darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>And so ends another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.<br>**

**Naruto has finally acquired more of the Rinnegan's capabilities. ****The Animal Path will let him develop one other ability and he remembers the power he almost used against Haku at the end of their fight. Any guesses what ability he'll learn and the other Path is? You'll find out over next few chapters.  
><strong>

**We've also seen a drawback. He can only actively use one Path at a time and due to his lack of proficiency with his dojutsu's powers, he can't switch between them on the fly.**

**He won't suddenly gain anymore powers like this. From here on out, he's going to have to go about it the hard way and while more knowledge of his kekkei genkai will gradually trickle into his mind, a lot of it won't be enough to actually use the abilities and he may learn about powers he can't actually use yet. **

**On a side note, I'm once again considering dropping Yugito. I absolutely want to keep Fuu in it and I'm worried I won't be able to convincingly write Naruto with two girls. Not to mention it doesn't seem like Naruto to have two girls. Also, I'm not sure if I actually want to keep Yugito in the pairing, or if I just went with it because most of you reviewers wanted me to. Well, there's plenty of time to come to a decision about it.**

**As always, please review.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey. I don't have anything to say at the moment, so let's get on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>"And after that, taking him down was kid stuff." Naruto said to Iruka as he finished recounting the events of the preliminaries. The pair was seated at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, Iruka deciding to take him to celebrate a job well done after they ran into each other, but for once Naruto insisted on paying himself. The blond already had five bowls piled up in front of him.<p>

Iruka chuckled. "Sounds like you had an easy time of it once you made it out of the forest." '_And away from Orochimaru..._' Iruka was truthfully more than a little worried about his surrogate younger brother's encounter with the traitorous Sannin, but there was little he could do about it. He wasn't going to ask about that in a public place and there wasn't much he could do that he wasn't already: keep an eye out for any of his agents.

"Was there ever any doubt? I'll be a chunin before you know it, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto replied with a grin before going back to slurping up the delicious noodles.

"I bet you will. You've really grown since you graduated." Iruka said before looking away and scratching his cheek, suddenly crest fallen. "Sorry."

Naruto turned to him and blinked. "About what?"

Iruka shook his head. "I should have been a better teacher. It never even occurred to me that the reason you couldn't perform the Clone Jutsu was because you had too much chakra to control it properly without advanced training. Maybe if I'd been more attentive then..."

"Aw, don't sweat it, Iruka-sensei." Naruto said, giving the man a reassuring smile. "I get how it is. You had a whole class to look after. You couldn't just show me special treatment. Specialized training is what jounin senseis are for. Besides, it all turned out for the best, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it did." Iruka's expression brightened somewhat. "Still, you had to deal with a lot of put downs because I missed something that should have been obvious to someone who's known you and taught as many students as I have."

"Then just don't let it happen again." Naruto shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm good, so the next time you have a student like me lend 'em a hand with their training, alright Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka smiled, remembering that despite what he'd been through, the boy was never the type to hold a grudge. "All right. I won't miss something like that again. That's my job, after all."

"That's right, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto replied before turning to the counter and raising his bowl in that air. "Can I have another bowl over here?"

"Sure thing." Teuchi said before turning and preparing another bowl of the steaming dish. He then handed the bowl to Naruto. "This one's on the house. Consider it my congratulations for a making it to the final round."

"Thanks old man Teuchi!" Naruto cheered before digging in.

"Oh don't thank me. You have to keep your strength up. I'll admit I don't know much about these exams, but the last step's almost always the toughest." Teuchi rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.

"So, how've the classes been treating you?" Naruto asked, turning back to his sensei. "Is Konohamaru as big a trouble maker as I was."

Iruka seemed mildly surprised to hear that question. "Oh, I didn't know you knew the Hokage's grandson."

"Yeah, we ran into each other and I gave him a few pointers." Naruto said with a wide grin. "I kinda laid his stuck up sensei out. Since then we've hung out from time to time and I took him under my wing."

Iruka chuckled. "You know he has changed a little since I met him. He used to be so angry before, and then suddenly he started training more seriously and opened up. So I have you to thank for that. Maybe I should tell the other senseis to watch out." A lot of the other shinobi at the academy who didn't detest Naruto for what he was were still glad that they wouldn't have to worry about pranks anymore. It looked that that dream might have lasted as long as a window standing between Anko Mitarashi and a dramatic entrance...

Naruto chuckled, "Well, I did teach him my Sexy Jutsu. That's how I took down his teacher, the closet perv."

... And they shared the same fate, raining down to the floor in so many broken shards...

"I see." He shook his head. "I feel sorry for Lord Hokage. Most of the other teachers will probably take him to his grandfather if he causes trouble because they're afraid of stepping on toes."

Naruto scoffed at that reminder of the boy's special treatment. "I don't really get why everyone walks on eggshells around him when he doesn't even want to be treated that way. Besides, it's not like the old man would punish them if he thought Konohamaru had it coming."

"Maybe, but you have to remember a lot of people put more stock in a name than you do. Besides, while Lord Hokage might be like a grandfather to you and the rest of your generation a lot of us remember there's a reason he's called the God of Shinobi."

"So? He may have done great things back in the day, but Konohamaru hasn't. He's working his ass off to make a name for himself someday, people should respect him for that and not who his grandpa happens to be." Naruto said, clearly annoyed. "Anyway, the old man can handle it. Whatever Konohamaru gets into its better than when he thought he could take the hat by taking him down."

Iruka laughed slightly and shook his head. "Too true."

* * *

><p>Naruto had told the chunin that he had wanted to show him something and though Iruka wondered what it was that he couldn't just come out and say it at Ichiraku's he couldn't deny he was curious. So, he decided he would humor his younger brother figure. After all, it wasn't like he had anything better to do at the moment. So, the academy instructor found himself walking through the streets of Konoha with his former student on their way to the blond's apartment. The blond certainly seemed excited to share whatever it was with him. He imagined it had to be a pretty big secret, although what could possibly be bigger than the secret he was already keeping?<p>

Naruto felt he should have told Iruka about his dojutsu sooner. After all, the man had been there for him for years. He was someone the blond considered family, and he knew he'd never betray him. He was only a hand full of people Naruto would fully trust with his secrets, the others being his team mates, the old man and Teuchi and Ayame, but he didn't think he should share ninja secrets with two people who couldn't defend themselves. He was also kind of kicking himself for not seeing his older brother figure in over two months.

However, his thoughts derailed as he noticed something in the store window, causing him to come to a halt. Iruka noticed a few moments later and turned to see the blond walking up to a window. As he walked back, he looked up and noticed the shop was 'Hiraku's Armory'. On the logo, numerous weapons from kunai and shuriken to naginatas were embedded in the ground, making it clear it was a shinobi weapon store. Curious as to what drew the blond's eye, he followed his gaze and found his answer.

It was a ninja vest. Specifically an ORANGE ninja vest. Of course, as if anything else would draw Naruto's attention than something that happened to be his favorite color? Or ramen? Or more recently anything relating to sealing jutsu?

The sleeveless vest that seemed to be made of a tougher material than cotton. It had multiple compartments lined up on both sides of the chest similar to Konoha's standard flak jacket along with two pockets on the near the bottom. It came in multiple colors, mostly darker more appropriate shades but it was plain as day which one caught the blond's eye.

Iruka smiled. "Something caught your eye, Naruto?"

"Yeah, that awesome vest! I've been thinking of getting something with a few more pockets, and that looked perfect!" The ecstatic Rinnegan Bearer replied.

Iruka's eyes widened, staring down at the boy with is mouth agape as if he'd suddenly grown an extra head. Could it be? Could this be the chance he had been waiting years for?

The chance to get Naruto out that hideous track suit he was so proud of?

The boy had gotten the things on the cheap, for obvious reasons, and with the limited budget afforded to him that made them especially appealing. Thing was, the boy loved them for being almost entirely his favorite color and absolutely refused to part with them.

Most others agreed that the only things worse were the green jumpsuits worn by Lee and Gai.

"Oh? That's funny, I seem to remember a certain someone absolutely saying they'd never part with 'the best set of clothes in Konoha'." Iruka said slyly.

"They are the best! They're orange. And warm. And comfortable... and orange." Naruto replied before looking at them sullenly. "But I can't carry all the scrolls I'd like with them... and they don't really have anything I could put seals on..."

"Ah, I see. So you need something more suited for your new skills." Iruka nodded. "I can help with that, if you want."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I just hope you don't expect me to pay for it. An academy instructor isn't exactly a large figure job." Iruka replied.

Naruto reached into his pocket, pulling out a frog shaped wallet that was absolutely stuffed to the brim to the point the chunin was surprised the seams hadn't burst yet. "No problems there!"

"Who-hoa! Looks like someone's flush with cash."

"You haven't seen anything yet! This is just my pocket money, Iruka-sensei." Naruto replied with a grin. He didn't really have much to spend his money on since a lot of the stores and stands around the village refused to let shop there. But who cared!? He made most of them regret not letting him in and that meant he mostly just had to pay his rent and food expenses.

The blond then turned to the door. "Now come on, let's get to it!" Iruka chuckled and followed him inside, however, the blond quickly came to a stop when he saw a familiar face at the desk. "Tenten?"

Tenten, who'd been resting her head on her hand behind the counter, sat upright at the sight of customers. Smiling, she said, "Hey Naruto. Looking to buy?"

"What are you doing here?"

"My old man owns this place. Since he makes most of his weapons himself, I pretty much grew up here and in the forge. I used to help out around the shop all the time back when before I made genin. Neji and Lee are training on their own right now, so I've got nothing but free time on my hands. Figured I might as well do something constructive in the meantime." Tenten explained, shrugging at the end before turning to Iruka. "Long time no see, Iruka-sensei. How's the academy been?"

Iruka shrugged. "Eh, same as always. There are some things that never really change."

"I guess so." Tenten replied.

"Happy to have a break from Gai and Lee?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." She said before looking back to Naruto. "Hey... I hear your team was responsible for Zabuza Momochi coming to the village. Any truth there?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, that was a while ago. He's kind of harsh... and bloodthirsty... and a slave driver, but he and his student are alright. So we brought 'em back and the Hokage gave the ok."

Tenten suddenly had stars in her eyes, much to the Rinnegan bearer's shock. "Oh my gosh, it's actually true!? Did he still have his sword with him!?"

Naruto blinked. "Uh... yeah, of course. Why?"

Tenten was in front of him so quickly he thought she might have used the Body Flicker technique, causing him to take a step back. "You have to introduce me to him! Please!"

The blond looked at her in bemusement and said, "Wow... I didn't think you were a fan of his."

Tenten shook her head. "I'm not really, but he's the wielder of one of the most renowned swords in all the Elemental Nations!" She gushed. "I've always wondered what the Seven Swords were like! I have to see it! And he's one of the most skilled swordsman around, imagine what I could learn from him!" She cupped her hands together and looked to the ceiling. "Not to mention I might be able to get him to tell me all about the other swords!"

Iruka chuckled and shook his head. "Ah, how could I forget how much you love talking about weapons."

Naruto grinned and added, "I guess it's no surprise when you grow up under a blacksmith."

"Not just _a_ blacksmith, one of the best in Konoha!" Tenten said proudly. In fact, only the reclusive Io was better than Hikaru, and with his eccentricities and the fact that many of his weapons were either too complex to actually wield by anyone but a master or were locked away for failing to satisfy him, and Tenten's father was the go to guy. "So, will you introduce me to him?!

"No problem, Tenten."

Tenten squealed in delight at seeing the famed sword and its wielder. "Thank you! I owe you big time!" She took a moment to compose herself. "Now back to business. What are you looking for?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I was thinking I could use some new clothes, and maybe restock my weapons while I'm at it."

Tenten crossed her arms and nodded sagely. "Ah, I see. I should have seen that coming."

Naruto frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tenten looked at him, distaste clear on her features as she said, "What I mean is those clothes you've got on have got to be the biggest waste of money I've ever seen."

Naruto looked affronted by the words. "Hey, take that back! My jacket's awesome!"

Tenten smirked and raised a brow. "Oh really? And where'd you find it, the bargain bin?"

"Eh!" Naruto froze, his mouth wide open before he crossed his arms stubbornly. "That's beside the point!"

"Uh huh." Tenten nodded, her expression victorious. "And I rest my case."

Naruto clenched a fist and growled at the insult to the tracksuits he'd worn for years. So what if he got a good deal on them? They were the most comfortable things he'd ever worn! And he got 5 sets for practically nothing!

Iruka chuckled at the boy's antics. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Ok, ok let's remember we're here to get new clothes, so you should just let it go." He smirked "Besides, the fact that you found them in the bargain bin should tell you something."

Naruto gave his former sensei a look of betrayal. "Not you too, Iruka-sensei! Why's everyone ganging up on me?"

"Because we're right." Tenten put her hands on her hips. Naruto grumbled under his breath. "So, what are you looking at?" The blond seemed reluctant for a moment before pointing out the orange vest, causing her to raise a brow. "Well, three guesses why you love that tracksuit so much..." Naruto chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "Do you have anything to go with it, or are we going for a whole outfit?"

"I think he's going to need a whole new wardrobe. I'm pretty sure he outgrew just about everything else he has." Iruka said.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've worn anything else. But why would I need to, these were perfect for me!" He said, grabbing his jacket for emphasis.

"You know, you shouldn't sing its praises just because it happens to be your favorite color." Tenten admonished as she walked off. "I'm sure we can find something for you that go with the vest and doesn't make you look like you belong in a circus." Naruto's eye twitched, but before he could saw anything, Tenten pulled out a dark blue, nearly black short sleeved shirt. "Like this. It looks about your size. And if you're looking for something to go with your sealing jutsu, I suggest a few of these." And with that, she pointed to some gloves and wrist bands on display. "You can load them up with all kinds of seals." She smirked, raising her hands and pulling on the end of her new gloves. "Lots of opportunities."

She'd recently put more thought into how to use her talent for sealing to improve her fighting style. One of the simplest ideas she could put in to practice without further training was to put seals on her clothing for quick drawing weapons.

"Yeah, that looked like it'd look awesome together!" Naruto said as he pictured him wearing it. He then grabbed the shirt, moved over looked until he found a matching set of pants in his size and grabbed the vest before going into the dressing room.

"So, I take it you two are close if you're helping him out with this." Tenten noted as she turned to her old sensei.

"Well, we were actually going somewhere else, but yeah. He's been like a little brother to me." Iruka said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Tenten nodded with a smile before it turned mischievous. "So kind of like Gai and Lee?"

Iruka jerked and then stood stock still. His eyes became pure white ovals and his face turned blue as his mind frozen in horror as a scene that would haunt his nightmares formed in his head. He and Naruto cried each other's names, manly tears streaming out of their eyes before they embraced before a sunset backdrop filled his mind. He could think of nothing in the face of such an abomination.

After a few seconds, he slumped forward with his arms drooping at his sides. "Please don't even joke about that..." Tenten giggled in response.

"Alright, how do I look?" Naruto came out, now wearing the new cloths.

"Much better!" Tenten praised. In short order, Naruto had gotten together several sets of the shirt and pants, together with a few pairs of black, fingerless gloves. She raised a brow as she looked through the purchase. "Not the vest?"

"Yeah, about that..." Naruto began. "I was wondering if you could change the insignia on the back."

Tenten blinked and Iruka. The vests had the red spiral that adorned so much of Konoha's ninja clothing on them. "Oh yeah? To what?" The bun haired girl asked.

"Keep the spiral, but put it at the center of a white circle outlined with black, with points at the spiral in the four cardinal directions."

Tenten raised a brow while Iruka smiled fondly. "Ah, you found out about your clan, I see."

"You know, Iruka sensei?" Naruto asked, clearly surprised, to which the chunin nodded.

"Yep, they used to teach about it in the academy... don't know why they stopped." He trailed off thoughtfully, cupping his chin as he wracked his brain for a reason why it was cut out of their lessons.

"Wait, there's an Uzumaki clan?" Tenten asked.

Iruka nodded, going into lecture mode. "They were the leaders of our closest allied village: Uzushio and cousins of the Senju clan. They were famous seal masters, but they were surrounded and overwhelmed by the combined forces of Iwa and Kumo before we could help them." Naruto frowned at the reminder. "We wear the core of their clan's symbol in remembrance of the bond we shared with them."

"I see." Tenten said before giving the blond a smile, bringing her fist to her chest. "Well you can count on me! I'll look them up and make sure I get it right!"

Naruto brightened up at that. "Thanks Tenten!"

"No need to thank me, the customer's always right." She smiled before leaning in. "Just remember to introduce me to Zabuza, ok?"

* * *

><p>Iruka could only stare at his younger brother figure's purple eyes in shock, reeling from what had been revealed to him before he fell back into the chair behind him.<p>

"Naruto... wow. I mean..."

Naruto looked sheepish as he said, "Yeah... didn't see it coming, did you? I was in the same boat a few months ago." His expression became apologetic. "Sorry for not telling you sooner."

Iruka held his hand up to stop him. "I get it. You've had a lot on your plate, it's no big deal. But Naruto... you do understand the significance of acquiring those eyes, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Iruka-sensei!"

The chunin smiled. "Thanks for trusting me." He shook his head. "I knew you had a way of surprising everyone... but I never imagined anything like this. Who else knows?"

"My team and old man Hokage, no surprise there. Zabuza and his student, Haku was there when I got them, so they know. Jiraiya knows too." Naruto then scowled. "And that bastard Orochimaru knocked off my glasses in the forest."

"_Orochimaru_ knows?!" Iruka exclaimed. "Of all the..." He sighed. "Those eyes are might be as much a curse as they are a blessing. Everyone's going to have their eyes on you once word gets out about them."

Naruto grinned. "Well I'll just have to make sure not to disappoint them, right Iruka-sensei?"

* * *

><p>Naruto grinned as he a massive cloud before him dispersed, revealing nothing in its wake. He stood alone in the forest far outside of Konoha, well beyond where anyone prying eyes could spy his Rinnegan bearing summons. While the event at the ravine had seemed to open up a wellspring of buried knowledge of his dōjutsu, since then he only gleamed small glimpses of information. Incomplete tidbits concerning his powers. Nothing he could actually use to learn more of his dōjutsu's abilities or even get a better grasp of what he had yet. That include the beings connected to the Animal Path and their capabilities, so here he was testing them out. Luckily, what he had acquired from that mental info-dump had been largely straightforward abilities and didn't require much further training. All there was to his new Path was summoning after all, and what as for what he'd remembered from his battle with Haku... well, the power he'd been about to use on him had been pretty simple too, though it unsettled him quite a bit.<p>

That said, the way the information trickled into him now, he didn't think there'd be anymore sudden developments. From here on out, it would take time and hard work to learn more of his powers and master them.

He felt he now had a pretty good grasp of his the new summons he could call on, plus the overview of the toads that Jiraiya had given him. He closed his eyes and focused, once more reaching into the different paths of power hidden within him.

'_Deva Path._' He preferred to default to the first path he'd had access to. He raised a hand and clenched a fist as he once more felt the power he was most familiar with rise to the surface.

He felt he'd just about done all he could. After all, there was only one week left until the finals began. That didn't mean he'd stop training, but he figured now was as good a time as any to call it a day. After all, he was sure Jiraiya would have something planned for him tomorrow.

And so, the blond began his journey back to the village, placing his hands behind his head and walking towards the tree line.

As he walked pushed aside a bush in his way his eyes widened. He wouldn't have noticed it before, but after two months of Zabuza's training from hell, including trying to evade him while he was taking full advantage of his skill in silent killing, he felt it at the last second.

Killing intent.

He ducked down, avoiding what would no doubt have been a fatal stab only to be kicked in the face by his assailant. He planted his hand on the ground and threw himself backwards, wanting to put some distance between him and his attacker to get his bearings. His opponent, however, was having none of that and immediately pressed his advantage, launching himself at the blond and preparing to skewer him with a white sword.

Naruto immediately drew a kunai to right hand and shuriken to his left as he sailed through the air, throwing first the stars and then the dagger. The assailant easily deflected two of the shuriken and caught the third with his free hand, returning it from whence it came. However, as the kunai approached, his eyes widened when he seals suddenly appeared on its surface as it passed his head.

The dagger detonated as Naruto twisted his body to dodge his returned shuriken. He knew that his attacker had avoided damage, but at least it had given him a little breathing room which he used to flip back onto his feet and land in a crouch, ready for an attack from anywhere as his Rinnegan blazed to life while forming a cross shaped hand seal. Quickly, he found his attacker's chakra signature, far outside the blast radius.

He summoned four clones, having upped the number of perspectives he could perceive without losing focus. Two of his clones immediately charged at the attacker, flanking him and attacking in tandem with kunai. The assailant flipped over their attack and turned in midair to face his attackers as they continued their assault.

It was then that Naruto got a good look at his attacker as he stepped into the open. It was a boy not much older than the blond himself. He was pale with green eyes and straight, shoulder length white hair divided down the middle of his forehead, the center of which was adorned with two scarlet orbs and two, red tube like hair ornaments on the sides of his face. He wore no identifying forehead protector, however, his attire worried the blond. He was wearing a light lavender, long sleeved shirt. On the front was a pure white version of the yin yang symbol. He had black pants and bandages around his ankle and a purple rope belt. He also had an odd mark visible on the exposed portion of his chest: it was black and in the shape of three slightly curved lines, almost meeting at the center.

It reminded him of Orochimaru's clothing. If that wasn't enough to set the already blaring alarm bells in the boy's mind on overdrive, his Rinnegan showed him that the mark on his chest was giving off the same chakra as Sasuke's Cursed Mark was.

One of the clones charged forward and the assailant raised his sword. "Who the hell are you?" The clone snarled, speaking what the blond was thinking.

"I see no reason to tell share my identity with you." The assailant said in a monotone voice as he turned to the nearest duplicate and raised his sword. The attacking clone moved to parry the blow with his kunai, intending to let the weapon's momentum spin him to get within its opponent's guard by it and leave him open to a counter, only for the assailant to block the following kick, catching its leg between his elbow and knee, leaving the clone wide open to a retaliatory slash which dispersed it.

"A clone jutsu isn't particularly dangerous in the hands of trash." The unknown shinobi said, while his words were mocking his tone remained unchanged.

"Let's see you say that once I've tossed you aside like yesterday's garbage!" The remaining clone, now aware of the danger of the weapon, shot forward with a second kunai. As they clashed, Naruto considered making a run for it back to Konoha, but quickly dismissed the idea. This guy was too fast, he'd catch up to him easily. There was one escape method he could use... but he'd have to get far out of sight for it to work, since it required he call out one of his new summons, and he got the feeling this guy would probably figure out what he was up to and wouldn't let him get far... unless he could distract him.

The clones at his side began to move, one leaping into the air while the other drew out a series of shuriken. The one in the air made the tiger hand seal. '_Water Style: Liquid Bullets!_'

The assailant turned as the clone fired high speed masses of water at him, tilting his head to dodge the first and jumping to the side to avoid the second as the clone he had been fighting disengaged.

The other clone threw his shuriken as Naruto clapped his hands together. "Trash this! Wind Style: Gale Palm!" The wall of wind slammed into the shuriken, causing them to speed forward, but the pale teen leapt above the attack. As he kicked off the ground, the clone that had been fighting him close and personal had just finished his own hand signs. '_Water Style: Wild Water Wave!_'

The clone released a stream of water thick as it was tall. In the air, he the assailant was unable to dodge and was hit full force by the by the cascade, grunting as it swept him away, slamming through a branch and into a thicker one which held against his weight. His trained eyes caught multiple shapes traveling through the water towards him. Thinking quickly, he focused his chakra. White spikes burst from his back, tearing through the wood and weakening the limb of the tree, causing it to snap.

Once more he was sent careening at the mercy of the violent water, but he was ready for it this time. He twisted his body and grabbed onto a branch, using his momentum escape the stream and flip back onto a nearby tree before launching himself at the real Naruto. Naruto ducked as the teen shot over him, the blade passing inches over his head.

The attacking shinobi immediately spun on his heel, turning into a furious assault on the blond who drew a kunai and defended. The exchange was brief before a foot suddenly slammed into his face. The attack was fast; he'd had no warning before the kick plowed into his face 'I see...' He thought as he flew through the air before flipping, twisting his body to avoid a tree and landing on his feet where he skidded to a stop. 'He used the Body Flicker to enhance his speed, combined with the dōjutsu Lord Orochimaru is so interested in to keep track of his surroundings and attack even while moving so quickly.' His eyes narrowed as he unzipped his jacket almost to the bottom, letting his arms slip through the sleeves causing the jacket to fall around his waist. He didn't want it to get anymore damaged than it already was.

Holding his sword at the ready, he shot forward. The clone was the first on his path, it deflected a stab from his sword followed by ducking down to avoid an attempt to grab his face by the Oto assassin. While its eyes were focused on the attack his just dodged, he saw the assailant's leg come up through the eyes of another clone and blocked it with his forearm. He flipped into a high kick only for the pale shinobi to step back to dodge. The doppelganger leapt back to dodge a retaliatory strike only for its attacker to lunge forward, slip around a series of shuriken from the real Naruto, twist into a slash that broke its guard and spin into a kick that struck it in the face and destroyed it.

The other clone attacked with another Body Flicker while the attacker seemed wide open, only for bones to erupt from his chest, bracing him from the attack and encasing the clone's ankle.

"What the-" Whatever the clone was going to say was cut off as he was dispersed with a swipe of the assassin's sword.

'_Those are... his bones are poking out of his body!? That's probably where that sword came from too... What kind of jutsu is that!?_' Naruto grinned fiercely. "That's a freaky jutsu you've got there."

"This is my kekkei genkai: the Shikotsumyaku." The assailant answered, a long, sharpened bone growing out of his free hand, tearing through his the skin of his palm. "I can control the bones in my body and compress them to the greatest density. These bones are stronger than steel."

"So what?" Naruto replied confidently. "Just because your bones are like steel doesn't mean the rest of you is. Go ahead and make them as hard as you like, I'll take you down anyway!"

"Do you think you can?" The assailant asked before charging forward, attacking with fast paced, elegant movements. He alternated between stabs with the spike coming out of his left hand and slashed from the bone sword. Naruto was put on the defensive as he used two kunai to deflect the attacks as best he could. The Oto shinobi leapt back and lunged at him with the spike, flipping his sword into a reverse grip as Naruto dodged to the side. He stabbed backwards with the blade and Naruto was forced to sacrifice a kunai to avoid being skewered, the sword tearing through it.

However, he was caught off-guard when the attacker swept his leg out under him, causing him to fall to the ground. He rolled to avoid the bone spike that imbedded itself in the ground where his chest had been a moment ago, only for the assailant's leg to stop him, trapping him as he raised his sword.

"This is the end, trash. Lord Orochimaru has ordered me to retrieve your eyes, and I will not fail his demands." However, Naruto simply smirked in response.

The assailant's honed instincts warned him of impending danger before Naruto exploded, dozens of explosive tags under his jacket going off at once.

When the dust cleared, the pale teen stood at the edge of the blast, a little singed but otherwise fine. The lack of gore proved that the Naruto he'd fought had been just another clone.

'_He must have replaced himself while I was caught in that water jutsu he used... perhaps I underestimated him a bit..._'

* * *

><p>Naruto appeared in a clearing far away from the explosion in a burst of speed, looking back as the blast from all those explosive tags crested the trees.<p>

"Damn... who was that guy? He was head and shoulders above those other goons Orochimaru sent after Sasuke." Naruto before sighing. He made a hand seal to mold his chakra for a jutsu...

... Only duck as the bone sword sailed over his head and embedded itself in the ground. He jumped forward just in time to dodge as the Oto shinobi stabbed at him, turning in midair to face his opponent.

"You won't be able to escape." the Oto shinobi said. "You can try, or attempt to fight back for all the good it will do, but your fate is sealed."

"I don't buy into that fate crap. We make our own fate, and mine's not gonna be dying in the middle of the forest." Naruto replied hotly.

"As I said, you can try..." the assailant slid his legs apart and entered a combat stance. "But you'll fail." Naruto made a cross shaped seal once more. "Clones again? How troublesome. Very well, allow me to reply. I have mastered five dances with my bloodline. Let's see how you fare."

As a cloud of smoke erupted around the blond, the bone wielder crouched down and crossed his arms around his chest, the spike from his hand shifting to form a blade while more bony swords grew out from his other hand, his elbows, shoulders and knees. "Dance of the Willows."

Three orange blurs emerged from the cloud, charging at the pale teen as he lifted his head to gaze upon them. The first attack however, came from behind, a clone appearing in the tree behind him in a Body Flicker and coming down with a kunai. The assassin blocked with his elbow blade and spun, using the momentum to throw the clone off balance and send it hurtling to the ground in front of him, where he continued to turn to impale him with his other elbow blade, only for the clone to twist to the side without looking and retaliate with a high kick aimed at the oto ninja's face.

The attack missed by a few inches as the pale teen tilted his head, stabbing at the clone with the blade of his right hand only for it to shift into a hand stand and launch itself backwards, flipping in the air and springing back at the attacker while another two more clones arrived at his sides, attacking from three different directions.

He fended off their attacks with elegant parries truly worthy of being called a dance, twisting his body just enough to dodge or parry the blow from the clone. He deflected a slash from a clone on the left, who proceeded to flip into a kick which he blocked with his forearm. The clone pushed itself back before he could retaliate as another attacked him from his other side, only for him to brush the blow aside with his knee blade and spin into a kick that was dodged. Another clone attempted to strike at his back, slashing at the base of his neck only for him to duck down and kick back at it.

The clone twisted out of the way of the kick and deflected a follow up strike from one of the attackers elbow blades, but the Oto shinobi spun and sent him to the ground, where he fell prey to a foot to the chest, dispersing the clone while the other two retreated.

Naruto pointed his palm at the Oto shinobi. "Bansho Tennin!" And with that he was ripped off of his feet and pulled towards the blond. The two clones lunged at him with kunai.

Both stabbed at him with their daggers while he swiped his arms to counter. One was forced to disengage but the other stabbed him in the side as Naruto released his jutsu, though it was destroyed when more bones erupted from the Oto shinobi's side. Naruto made a hand sign and launching himself at the assassin with the Body Flicker, slamming his foot into his chest and sending him flying back through a tree. "How'd you like that, ya bastard?"

Retaliation came in the form of small bone shards that flew through the air from where Kimimaro had vanished, crossing the distance so quickly there was no time to make a move and Naruto was struck in the chest... only to burst into smoke.

'_He replaced himself again... those clones are getting irritating._' He couldn't fault him for making extensive use of them against a superior opponent, but that didn't make them any less annoying.

Both the clones threw kunai at him, which he jumped over, landing between the pair who pulled out more kunai. They immediately made note that the blade on his left hand had been retracted and the wound on his side had completely healed. '_What the hell? I guess it makes sense, how else can he be standing after ripping bones out of himself like he's a human pincushion?_'

"Shinra Tensei!" He was suddenly propelled by an invisible force through the air towards the clone. Caught off guard and held aloft by the wave of gravity behind him, he was powerless as the clone launched himself forward, kunai at the ready to skewer him.

Or so it seemed, for the kunai penetrated his skin only to scrape across a bony membrane. The assassin and the clone were driven through another tree. The clone dispersed while the attacker suffered no real damage due to his unique biology. The wave continued and plowed him through the ground, leaving a crater where he landed.

A moment after his crash landing, the Oto shinobi flipped himself back on his feet and tilted his head as a kunai cut through the air by him. Having seen enough to risk taking a chance, he burst into motion immediately. A good call as the kunai exploded a moment later. Several more of the kunai rained down on him, leaving a trail of explosions in his wake before Naruto appeared in the air and drew out a demon wind shuriken.

The clone through the over-sized weapon at its opponent, who easily deflected it, only to notice a second one.

'_Shadow Shuriken Jutsu._' He analyzed, leaping into the air to dodge. Only to realize that's what they wanted when Naruto rose from the ground as if it was water, the earlier one just another clone.

The Hiding in Surface jutsu, the technique he'd wanted the perverted sage to teach him. Well, he'd actually asked him to teach him something like the earth jutsu used by the Ame genin trio, but Jiraiya had something better in his repertoire. At first glance, the jutsu was the same, but it worked on any surface, rather than their jutsu which only worked on soil; an all-around better technique.

As he spun through the air, the assailant once more fired a series of bone shards from his left hand. 'Shinra Tensei!' Only for them to be deflected by another wave of gravity as Naruto pointed his palm at him. "I've got you this time, you pasty faced creep!"

He'd discovered another ability of his dōjutsu during his training. He'd been wondering what was up with those odd spikes that seemed to be channeling his thoughts into the summon. He couldn't really describe how they felt, but it was like they were a part of him.

And he learned he could summon them too. Similar to the assailant's bone spikes, a black blade emerged from Naruto's palm, although it seemed to phase out from his flesh rather than tear through it like his opponent's Kekkei Genkai. It rapidly extended towards the pale teen. At this range and in motion as he was, the Oto shinobi was unable to fully dodge and was impaled through the shoulder with a grunt of pain.

He grunted in pain and gripped the blade as he fell to the ground, landing on is feet as Naruto fully emerged from the earth. "Clever, but do you really think-" His words were cut off with another grunt, his eyes widening as he suddenly felt every muscle in his body lock up. His chakra raged within his network and in his mind, he saw a pair of purple ringed eyes that seemed to fill his vision and stare at him from all directions.

Naruto grinned. He'd learned that the rods were the medium through which his wishes were channeled into the Rinnegan's summons. This was the first time he'd tested the effect on anything else, but it was obviously bad for his enemy.

"Looks like the game's over." Naruto said as he readied his free hand.

"Yes, it is." The assassin replied as the mark on his chest began to glow. Malevolent purple chakra enshrouded his form as the now burning mark spread across his body.

Naruto's eyes widened as his control was overwhelmed before he could finish him. The attacker threw himself back and off the blade as the blond cursed and retracted it, willing it to break off from his palm and wielding it like a sword. A pointless gesture as he was unable to defend when the bone user fired several more bone shards from his left hand, which pierced the blond's chest, tearing all the way through.

Naruto coughed up blood as he gripped his chest as he was knocked off his feet, his shirt quickly stained crimson.

"Boss!" His remaining clone cried. "Shit!" It ran through seals for a jutsu, but the assailant was upon him in a second, taking it out with a single swipe.

Not wanting to give the blond any further chances, he rushed towards the downed boy, his bone spike at the ready. "This is the end."

The world seemed to freeze as the Oto shinobi's bone blade moved ever closer, now inches away from his face. Then reality fell away and there was only darkness.

* * *

><p>Naruto blinked as he once more became aware of his surroundings. He looked around in confusion, finding himself in a long corridor lined with doors with no hint as to where they went. Pipes lined the ceiling, some thrumming with power. Some however, seemed to carry liquid, like the one that inexplicably ended at the center of the hallway allowing the liquid to spill out onto the floor. It was then his attention was drawn to the sensation of cold wetness at his feet and he noticed the corridor was flooded up to his ankle.<p>

"What the... where am I? Is this a sewer?" His eyes wandered and then honed in on the pipes. His expression morphed into shock as his dōjutsu revealed their true nature. "What..."

The power that coursed through the pipes was chakra... his own chakra to be more precise. Or most of them anyway. A few were blazing to his eyes, glowing with burning crimson chakra. It seemed to radiate a feeling of malice and bloodlust that chilled the Rinnegan bearer.

As he continued scanning the corridor, he turned to find himself standing before an enormous cage that appeared to his dōjutsu is constructed of chakra made physical. And bleeding through the bars was the crimson chakra. All he could see of its source was a massive, fanged maw and a pair of crimson eyes larger than his body. The being, silent until now, stared down at the boy. He frowned as he realized where he was and what was standing glaring down at him. "You're the Kyuubi!"

"I see my container has a habit of speaking the obvious." The fox noted in a mocking tone, its voice deep and rumbling. "Still, I suppose it's still an improvement over how you used to be. At least now you know what 'improvement' means."

"Well at least I have something better to do than sit around and watch some random kid's life, oh great Kyuubi." Naruto shot back. "And can you blame me for being flatfooted when I was about to die literally a second ago!?"

The fox seemed more amused than anything. "You've got guts to mouth off to me, I'll give you that, brat."

"Well, I'm feeling pretty confident in this cage here."

The enormous eyes glaring at him narrowed in anger. "And if it wasn't for this cage, I would have eaten you the moment I laid eyes on you."

Naruto smirked. "Then I guess I've got nothing to lose."

The fox huffed in response. "Well, if I suppose you should get back to dying. Have fun."

"So you're just going to sit here and go down with me?" Naruto questioned back. The fox was silent and the blond's mouth once more spread into a smirk, knowing he'd won. "Look, I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here, but we're stuck together, and this is MY body, so why don't you pay rent with your chakra? At least when I need it to save both our skins."

The fox chuckled, a dark, foreboding sound that grew into a full blown laugh. "As you said, I don't have much choice, do I? As much as I loathe the idea of aiding such a mockery, I suppose I have little choice."

Naruto looked confused. "Wait, mocker-" The blond's words were cut off as a wave of red chakra flowed out from the bars and enveloped him.

"For coming this far and entertaining me, I will loan you my chakra." The fox roared before adding. "But I will collect on this debt someday. Be sure of that."

* * *

><p>Back in the real world, Naruto's left hand suddenly shot up and caught the oto shinobi's body sword, deflecting it away from him as visible wisps of crimson chakra began to leak from his body. "What" The pale teen's eyes widened before he noticed movement.<p>

A wave of power erupted from the slash of the black sword in Naruto's hand, kicking up a wave of dust and debris. The assailant emerged from it with a rapidly healing slash along his chest.

The cloud dissipated to reveal Naruto, the whisker marks on the sides of his face thickened while his nails and canines had lengthened and grown sharper, giving him fangs and claws. Blood trickled down his hand from where the bone sword had cut him, only for the injury along with those on his chest to heal, his regeneration outstripping his attacker's. His sunglasses had been removed, revealing gleaming purple eyes.

"Wanna try that again, jackass?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.<strong>

**Please review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey, everyone. Sorry this one's a little late, I had to rewrite part of the chapter.**

**Well, let's get on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Naruto and his attacker stood across from one another. Both were tense, Naruto in a make shift sword stance with his sword held over him showing his lack of experience with such a weapon, while the oto shinobi returned to his earlier combat ready position, more bones growing from his limbs and chest as he gave the blond a calculating look. While the visible wisps had faded, anyone able to sense chakra could feel the corrupted energy rolling off the pair, mixing into something awful between them.<p>

"It would seem that there is more to you than I expected." The assailant admitted. "Lord Orochimaru informed me of the demon inside you, but I didn't think its power would be that potent. Still, it matters not. I will not fail my master."

Naruto scoffed. "I might have something to say about that." His voice was deeper with a slightly guttural undertone compared to the norm.

"I'll bet you do. Still, I'm surprised you pushed me this far. You asked for my identity earlier. I am called Kimimaro."

Naruto regarded the bone user curiously, though there was still a clear edge in his eyes. The Kyuubi's power brought with it the hatred and rage it felt, but he clamped down on it. "That Kekkei Genkai of yours... you belong to a clan, right?"

"The Kaguya clan or I did once. One can't refer to a single individual as a clan." The now named Kimimaro replied, showing no hint of pain or loss over his relatives fate.

"Sole survivor, huh? Same boat as me far as I know." Naruto noted.

"My past hardly matters." Kimimaro replied dismissively. "It was after their loss that I found my purpose. I am an extension of Lord Orochimaru's will, the perfect tool to carry out his ambitions... or I was." He closed his eyes as Naruto's frown deepened. "But that is irrelevant. As long as I am able to serve, nothing else matters."

Naruto was uncomfortably reminded of Haku by Kimimaro's words... and through that himself. Like them, this guy had no one, whether he'd known his clan to begin with or not he didn't know, but he wound up the same; lost and alone. But where he and Haku had been lucky enough to find people who cared for them, friends and family who would share their joys and sorrows, Kimimaro had been taken in by_ Orochimaru_. Just as they'd devoted themselves to the people who saved them, though Naruto Uzumaki would never be anyone's tool, Kimimaro devoted himself to his savior.

The difference is his supposed savior didn't give a damn about anyone but himself. "So that's it then? You're happy just being someone's puppet?" The blond spat.

That seemed to anger the normally calm Kaguya survivor. He raised his weapons. "I am no mere puppet. This is my own will." He charged, his arms held across his chest. "What gives you the right to judge my wishes!?"

Mirroring Kimimaro, Naruto summoned a second black blade to his hands and shot forward, closing the distance between them in an instant. They clashed, Kimimaro stabbing with his bone blade and Naruto deflecting it with his the blade in his left hand. Kimimaro spun on his heel, slashing with his elbow blade which Naruto ducked underneath. The bone user followed up with a kick, which Naruto blocked with his forearm. He leaned back when the blond made a vertical cut with his sword, the blade passing by him by inches. Naruto leapt back when more bones erupted from Kimimaro's leg and the bone user shot forward, hoping to use this opening to end the battle quickly.

Naruto was pushed back by Kimimaro's fast paced dance like attacks. The Kyuubi's power was far greater than the power Orochimaru's cursed seal had given the bone user, but there was still a vast difference in their skill levels, and it showed in that Naruto couldn't land a single blow. Naruto was growing a little frustrated, but his training let him keep it from affecting him.

Eventually, he saw an opening and deflected a blow from Kimimaro, sending his arm upward and breaking his guard. He moved to capitalize on the blow when more bones burst from his body and he spun and kicked off the ground, launching both into the air as the bones carved into Naruto, poking dozens of holes in his clothing in moments and sending blood flying across the grass. "Dance of the Willows!"

'_Shinra Tensei!_' An omnidirectional wave of gravity sent Kimimaro flying. Overpowered by the malevolent chakra flowing through Naruto, the sphere of power created a crater beneath Naruto and sent the bone user yards away, plowing through a tree and then the ground but he quickly flipped back onto his feet, his unique bone structure and regenerative powers allowing him to recover quickly.

Kimimaro cursed when he saw Naruto right himself in the air, seemingly unaffected by the thrashing his just received. He decided then and there he'd have to finish him in a single blow.

Naruto flipped the two black blades in his hands and threw them like javelins. Kimimaro weaved around them as he charged towards the falling blond, but it served to empty his hands through, allowing Naruto to make a cross shaped hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A burst of smoke engulfed the blond as he neared the ground. Kimimaro growled as he neared, ready to strike at the clones the first chance he had. '_Wind Style: Wind Fist!_' However, he did not expect an oversized pocket of compressed air that rapidly grew until it was almost the as large as he was tall to slam into him when the Rinnegan bearer was from the cloud, sending him flying back with a grunt and crashing through a tree before dispersing.

Two clones jumped into the air when the obscuring fog was blown away, both making the tiger hand sign. '_Water Style: Liquid bullets!_' Each fired rapid fired ball of water as Kimimaro broke out into a run to dodge, each one impacting the ground with enough force to kick up a cloud of dirt. He was ready when one of the clones attempted to hit him with a Body Flicker again, deflecting the blow with his arm, leaving the clone wide open and it was promptly destroyed.

This however, covered the real Naruto, who was only moments behind him, holding out his hand as one of his black blades rapidly extended, aimed at Kimimaro's face. The bone user ducked under the attack and moved forward to strike, only to be forced to block when another clone attacked him with a kunai.

The clones that fired the water bullets fell to the ground, one joining the fray. Kimimaro was forced on the defensive with three of the Kyuubi empowered Naruto's attacking him, but not a single blow managed to pierce his nimble defense. Eventually, he lengthened the bone blades and spun rapidly, forcing them back lest they be skewered.

He stopped and launched himself at the real Naruto, who summoned a second black blade as they clashed once again.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru chuckled as he eyed the three corpses before him, their forms hidden in shadows of the dunes as the sun above beat down on the desert. "Such a shame. And things were going so well, too." The snake Sannin said, his tone conveying amused condescension. "Ah well. Things will still go on as I will it. With or without you."<p>

"Fan-fucking-tastic." A teenaged girl commented as she covered her eyes and stared at the sky. She had long, spiky dark pink hair that framed her face and wore a black hat with bandaged sides. Other than that her attire was similar to her master's, as was her teammates'. "Now we're going to have to stay in this kami-forsaken land for a week. What kind of shithead would actually think building their home in the middle of a desert was a good idea?"

"Tayuya." A large and imposing teen with orange hair in a Mohawk with two tufts on the sides of his head. "There's no point in complaining, it is what it is. Besides, I'm pretty sure the rest of us are thinking the same thing..."

"Shut it, fatass."

"Quiet down, would you?" Orochimaru said, bringing them all to attention immediately. His words were calm, layered with the poisoned honey that had brought them and so many other children to his side in the first place, but they knew better than to defy him. "While your crossfire is always entertaining, at the moment we have more important things to do."

"Yes." "Got it." The two answered.

"I still say one or two of us should have gone with Kimimaro." A pale, androgynous teen with straight, dark gray hair that stopped just above his shoulders stated. A bang of his hair covered his right eye. He had what appeared to be green lipstick and, disturbingly, what appeared to be a second head facing in the opposite direction as his own, growing out of the base of his neck. "No matter what kind of trash the brat is, who knows how long it'll be before Kimimaro bites it. No sense sending a dying man on such a vital mission."

The master of Otogakure chuckled again. Kimimaro had tried to hide it, but he'd noticed the boy was coughing up blood. What a waste, the perfect tool to carry out his will and even serve as his vessel, struck down by illness. But, such was fate.

Besides, only he could live forever. "Don't worry. Kimimaro is invincible, with or without his illness. Besides, it's yet to fully set in. He will succeed, I'm sure of it."

* * *

><p>Naruto and Kimimaro clashed, the blond's black blades colliding against white bones as the pair attempted to overpower each other.<p>

"You certainly rely heavily on those clones of yours." Kimimaro noted as he tilted his head to avoid a slash from Naruto and retaliated with a stab that the blond brushed aside, his superior speed saving him. "I suppose it's to be expected. Trash tends to congregate, and you channel that fact with that jutsu."

"What do you know!? At least I'm not the lapdog of someone who dances to the tune of a piece of garbage like Orochimaru!" Naruto snarled as he held his blades in an X-formation and slashed at Kimimaro. The bone user jumped back and stabbed at Naruto.

"Do not insult Lord Orochimaru!" Naruto deflected the stab and Kimimaro spun and lashed out with a kick. Naruto leapt above the blow, spinning in midair and holding his swords down edge at the ground. The Kaguya survivor jumped backwards to dodge as Naruto slammed into the ground with enough force to kick up a cloud of debris and create a small crater. The blond immediately charged out of the cloud and stabbed at one of Kimimaro's unprotected areas, only for him to deflect it with one of his bone blades. However, the bone user couldn't defend of dodge when Naruto lashed out with a kick, striking him in the face and sending him flipping through the air before he landed on his feet and skidded to a halt as the Rinnegan bearer pressed the attack.

Kimimaro spun on his heel, stabbing with one of his elbow blades. Naruto deflected the attack with one of his black sword like constructs, sending out sparks as the two improvised weapons scraped against each other. Naruto retaliated with a kick that was caught by the spikes on Kimimaro's chest, but before he could retaliate, Naruto brought his sword down, forcing him back. At the same time, he pushed with his free leg, freeing his trapped limb.

Kimimaro retracted the blades on his palm and sent out ten bones from his fingertips at the blond, but between the enhanced speed and the Rinnegan, he was able to dodge or deflect them all, knocking them out of the air with his swords.

He once more used the blade in his left hand as an improvised javelin, which Kimimaro easily dodged before extending another blade from his palm while pointed his hand at the bone user. "Bansho Tennin!"

Kimimaro was pulled off the ground and drawn towards the Naruto's hand and the blade, but he countered by extending his leg and growing more bones from its surface. Naruto was forced to release his jutsu and duck lest they both be skewered. When Orochimaru's top subordinate landed, he immediately spun on his heel and pressed the attack.

Naruto deflected Kimimaro's strikes even as he was pushed back. "It doesn't matter what you try, I'm not going to lose to someone so blind they can't see the writing on the wall!"

"I'm not blind, I see clearly! I have achieved Lord Orochimaru's greatest dream. As long as I fulfill his aspirations, I will live on forever inside his heart. It doesn't matter what happens to my body, my memory and that of my clan will live on in him!" Kimimaro cried as he lashed out at him. "But I shouldn't expect some like you would understand!"

"I do understand!" Naruto snarled, dodging and parrying Kimimaro's strikes. "I grew up hated by everyone around me for something I didn't even do! I spent the first few years of my life almost completely alone, and I'd do anything for the people who saved me from that hell! But you know what the difference is here? _They actually give a damn about me_!"

Naruto slammed his blades against Kimimaro's bone covered arms and the pair pushed, trying to overpower each other. "Wake up you idiot!" The Uzumaki yelled. "Orochimaru's the type of bastard who only cares about himself! He just uses everyone around him! If he outlives you, you'll be lucky if he even remembers you for more than a week!"

Kimimaro growled from the back of his throat, refusing to even consider the blond's words. He immediately dismissed them as lies and it only served to anger him further. In his rage, he reached down and pulled out the whole of the power his lord had granted him, wanting nothing more than to crush his adversary with extreme prejudice.

Naruto's took a step back, his mouth dropping as the purple chakra visible to his Rinnegan suddenly exploded in power. To his eyes, it was like a small bushfire suddenly became a raging inferno of purple flames, swirling around Kimimaro as the core of the seal grew, covering him completely and darkening his flesh as his body mutated. The sclera of his eyes turned black as inky darkness bled into the white from the edges, his pupils dilated as his irises turned yellow and his skin turned dark gray and six massive, curved bones grew out of his back, replacing the smaller ones that littered his form until now which retracted with his transformation. Shockingly to the blond, a tail grew out from the base of his hips and bony spikes grew along the length of his spine and his new appendage. '_What the hell happened to him? Just what is that curse mark?_'

The next blow was almost too fast for Naruto to block and had enough strength behind it to break his guard and force him back. Naruto immediately knew that he couldn't compete with the boost the corrupt chakra was giving Kimimaro, not unless he borrowed more power from the fox anyway. The bone user closed the distance between them and struck at the blond with a newly grown bone spike from his palm.

It was too fast for the blond to dodge, even with the power of the Kyuubi flowing through him. In a slight panic and with the knowledge that he needed to end this as quickly as possible, he dredged up as much chakra as he could and channeled it into his jutsu. "Shinra Tensei!"

He underestimated the potency of the Kyuubi's chakra. Kimimaro was blown away as a spherical wave of gravity exploded from the blond, kicking up a massive wave of dirt and debris as the earth beneath them was torn away, trees uprooted and sent flying as easily as twigs in a maelstrom, the ever increasing detritus and chunks of stone and obscuring dirt rolled ever forward at the edge of the tide of destruction.

Everything within the quarter mile radius of the blond was engulfed in the devastation of Naruto's attack, leaving a barren crater enclosed by a wall of uprooted ground and trees, one side crashing into a cliff face, digging into its side and causing it to collapse once the force passed. Naruto's shocked eyes surveyed the destruction he'd caused.

* * *

><p>Their clash had not gone unnoticed. At that moment, ANBU who had felt or been alerted to the twisted signature of their clashing chakras once they both began drawing on the dark power within them were moving through the forest, particularly once Kimimaro's eclipsed the power of the Kyuubi raced to their location, uncertain of what they would find at its source.<p>

They stopped, even the trained shinobi caught off guard by the sight of Naruto's attack. The spreading cloud was visible from Konoha.

"What the hell is going on over there?" A brown cloaked, dog masked shinobi wearing a wondered aloud.

"Does it matter?" The tan cloaked, cat masked leader said, turning to his subordinate. "Clearly it's a battle of some kind; we need to get over there now."

"Especially if the Kyuubi's involved." A member of the group who clearly had a low opinion of the Kyuubi's host growled. And with that, they took off once again. No one in the group of five commented on his words. Two agreed, while the other two were too concerned about the situation to start a conflict by commenting on it.

* * *

><p>Across Konoha, numerous eyes were drawn to the cloud of dirt. Unlike the ANBU patrol, they were outside sensing range so none could feel the chakras, leading everyone to wonder what had happened. However, there were several who recognized the way it spread. Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Zabuza and Haku knew what the technique was and went on alert, making excuses if need be and rushing towards it.<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto wondered if it was over. Kimimaro had to be down after that, right? There was no sign of his chakra. He couldn't sense his presence. Maybe the bone user was down for the count, if he was even still alive.<p>

He then clicked his teeth. Not a chance. Not with the way he healed and how tough his bones were, even before his transformation. The attack probably, and did not that he knew it, utterly pulverize the bone user, but between with the way he healed and regrow his bones, he'd be back up in no time. He prepared to take off when he heard a voice that seemed to echo from every direction.

"Bracken Dance!" Massive, branched bones burst from the ground, rising from the earth to replace the trees as hundreds of them grew from the earth in a manner comparable to Hashirama Senju's Wood Element.

Naruto froze for a moment at the sight before he took off in the opposite direction. The wall of bone spires grew ever closer and the blond quickly formed a hand sign, vanishing with a Body Flicker and reappearing on one of the already fully grown bone spires, clinging to its surface with his chakra.

Knowing this was not a place he wanted to be, he began to move across the bone spires towards a cliff. This was immediately shown to be a good decision as more bones burst from the surface he'd stood on a moment earlier. He rapidly traversed the forest of bones, his movements intermittent with Body Flickers to keep the bone user from using the timing of his movements to skewer him. Finally, as he neared the edge, just as he leapt off of once of the bone spires, Kimimaro emerged from one ahead of him, phasing out of it like the Hiding in Surface technique and shooting towards the blond like the bone bullets he'd been using, right hand encased in a large drill of bone.

The attack had clearly done some major damage to the Oto shinobi. His darkened skin was littered with black and purple blotches as bruises formed where shattered bone had torn open arteries and muscle causing internal bleeding. Most would be down, if not killed outright by that attack and yet he had restored his bone structure, forced out the bone shards and healed enough to keep fighting through force of will while his body rapidly mended the remaining injuries and his blood multiplied to replace what he'd lost.

In midair, Naruto couldn't dodge, and that spear was two large for his wind bullets to knock Kimimaro away. He could feel his gravity abilities were still recharging. All he could do is raise his arms and hope they finished before he was skewered.

Closer, closer, closer... time seemed to slow as certain death approached the bone drill now inches away from him.

And then his technique was ready. '_Shinra Tensei_!' The wave of gravity blew Kimimaro away. Naruto used another Body Flicker as soon as his foot touched the next bone tree, flinging himself to the cliff face.

He launched himself from the cliff and back to the ground when more bone bullets flew at him, landing about 20 yards beyond the edge of the bone forest and on the wall of debris created by his technique. Naruto made another cross shaped hand seal as he neared the ground.

Kimimaro charged out of the shadows, the cumbersome bone drill dismissed in favor of the blades, as the Uzumaki was engulfed in another cloud of smoke before three clones rushed out to meet him. As they approached, two slowed and began firing water bullets at him. He charged forward, weaving around the blades and firing more bone bullets from his fingertips.

The closest clone ducked under the bones, but was destroyed when Kimimaro rushed past him and slashed at him, the other two disengaging their jutsu as he closed the distance. The next doppelganger tried to engage him, but didn't last long. After its initial attack was parried it was put on the defensive, the bone users attacks dulled by anger and his altered form but far more dangerous all the same.

The clone jumped back to avoid the downward strike. Kimimaro's eyes narrowed and he charged forward only for a foot to slam into the side his face.

'_What?_' He was launched through the air by the blow while the clone responsible kicked off him, having used Body Flicker to move faster than even Kimimaro was capable of tracking. During his training Naruto had found that for such a low ranked jutsu, Body Flicker was _extremely _underrated, especially if you happened to have a dojutsu, and had resolved to master the technique as best he could.

It was then that two shuriken struck his still careening body, barely penetrating his skin. However, they immediately detonated, consuming him in a ball of fire.

When it passed he was little worse for wear, standing with his arms bracing himself and only slight burns and scrapes from shards of the metal stars, all rapidly healing. '_I see... so that's where it was hiding. I assumed there was another clone when only three rushed out. He certainly has no shortage of chakra..._'

The clone used the technique once again, striking Kimimaro in the chest as another flashed behind him and struck him in the back of the head, but he recovered quickly and struck the clone with his tail as he sailed through the air destroying it before planting his foot on the ground and rushing at the remaining clones.

The real Naruto watched the exchange through his clone's eyes, having used the Body Flicker to retreat back into the forest, and cursed. '_Damn it! His chakra's gotten way too strong! I can't take him head on. I can't get away either. No doubt he can keep up with Body Flicker. I could use Hiding in Surface, but he's too fast and can probably track me even then. I wouldn't make it back to Konoha. No choice, I have to win this, but between those bones and the way he heals..._' There was one way he could think of to win, even if it unsettled him.

The power he'd learned of through his memories of his battle with Haku, the one he was going to use to finish the ice user before seeing the face of the guy who'd given him advice and almost befriended him in his opponent had snapped him back to his senses. It would win him the fight alright... but it would also kill the guy and overall the ability disturbed him.

He grits his teeth. There wasn't any other way he could see himself winning this fight. If he was going to survive, and keep the Rinnegan from falling into Orochimaru's hands, letting him do Kami knows what with it, it was the only choice he had.

He just saw the last of his clones fall. He had to do this quickly. The blond made a cross shaped hand sign, creating two clones to watch over him before closing his eyes, hating that he had to cut off almost all awareness of his surroundings to dig into the powers given to him by his Kekkei Genkai. He really had to work on that in the future. He had no doubt he would have a future, such was his confidence.

10 seconds, that was how long it took to dig into the paths of power and shift to the one he needed. '_Human Path._'

He opened his eyes and prepared to rush out only to stop as he perceived Kimimaro's chakra through his clone's eyes a moment before a white and black whip shot out around the tree. He barely had time to escape before he was roped to the wood he'd been hiding behind, leaping well over dozen yards in a single bound and skidding to a halt with his clones beside him.

It was powerful enough to constrict and tear through the bark, causing the tree to timber to the ground to reveal Kimimaro, holding a whip made of... "Is that your spine!?" Naruto gaped incredulously.

"No more games." Kimimaro said simply, lashing out with the whip again, targeting a clone that was coming at him. It leapt into the air to dodge only for it to shoot out, controlled by the bone user's will at the real Naruto. The true Rinnegan bearer leapt back to put some distance between them as he slammed his palms together. '_Wind Style: Gale Palm!_'

The resulting wave of wind knocked the bone construct away, only for it to swerve around to target the still airborne clone. It twisted its body to dodge only to be destroyed by a volley of finger bullets.

Naruto fired a ball of air at the ground in front of Kimimaro, kicking up a dust cloud before he jumped back to put distance between them. The whip almost immediately burst towards him, but by the time it neared him, the blond had already finished weaving hand signs. The whip slammed into him, only for a log to appear in his stead.

Kimimaro rushed at the remaining clone, throwing the whip out and having it coil around it to restrict its movement. It would have jumped, but Kimimaro was ready for that, leaving it out of options and quickly destroyed. Naruto flashed back into the field with the Body Flicker, kicking his hand as he moved and and disarming him, causing the Kaguya to growl as his weapon sailed beyond the trees.

Naruto quickly formed another hand sign and vanished in a cloud of smoke, heightening Kimimaro's frustrations as he knew he had once more summoned shadow clones. Sure enough, five Naruto's burst from the cloud, the one in the back holding a pair of black blades. '_That has to be the real one... the clones have never used those weapons before._'

Two of them drew demon wind shuriken and threw them, he could see from his crouched position that two more were hiding in their shadows, making four over-sized and possibly explosive throwing stars flying through the air towards him. He jumped into the air to dodge and came down on the neared clone, a bone blade extending him his right palm.

To his complete shock however, rather than make any attempt to dodge and with no weapon to block, the Naruto in front continued forward. He raised his left hand to defend and allowed the blade to impale his palm, sending blood to the grass beneath them. '_This is the real one!_'

With a roar Naruto reached his right hand towards Kimimaro's chest. With his left arm too far to the side, he was unable to block the Rinnegan bearer's attack and so he summoned more bones to shield him from whatever it was he was doing and trap his hand so he could end it.

Unfortunately for him, bones couldn't stop what Naruto had in mind.

The bones succeeded, impaling Naruto's arm and locking him in place, but they didn't stop his from accomplishing what he needed. Naruto's palm touched his chest, and for a moment the Oto Nin felt nothing.

Nothing at all.

Then it hit him. His body suddenly seized up then relaxed, feeling a sense of dread but not knowing why. The blonde's hand slowly started to pull away, the bony cage digging deeper into his skin and as he did Kimimaro observed a white gossamer-like substance seemingly stuck to the palm. Naruto's hand continued to move farther away and as it did the white haired man felt his extremities beginning to tingle, numb and then grow cold. More and more of the substance was pulled out as the sensation move farther up his arms and legs, his head now even beginning to tingle. He had forgotten he had stopped breathing, or perhaps even that was being taken as well. The sensation had now spread everywhere except at his very center. Scattered thoughts, increasingly blurred and unfocused echoed inside his mind as he realized what was happening. Then there was a final tug, the Rinnegan bearer pulled his hand free of the bones and the substance was ripped clean from his body and he knew no more.

His soul had just been torn from its fleshy shell.

There was no sound, no ghostly wail from the displaced spirit nor a cry of shock, or pain, or anything from the Oto shinobi as life left his yellow eyes. Now merely an empty shell, his body went limp and continued along its path, shutting down now that the spirit was gone. The blond turned to allow the corpse, still tied to him by the blade through his left hand, to fall face down to the ground as the soul vanished from Naruto's grip, passing on to the next world.

His transformation and the cursed mark began to recede, his skin returning to its normal pale tone which spread up from his extremities.

Naruto breathed heavily as he stood there for a moment, blood trickling down both his hands from where his wrist had been torn open by bones, though that was rapidly regenerating, and still impaled left hand. He took a step back, tearing the bone blade from his palm before falling back on his butt. His clones dispersed, leaving him alone with his first kill.

He stared at the corpse for a few moments, the adrenaline beginning to leave his system along with the Kyuubi's power, which began to fade as soon as his wounds had healed and the reality that he'd taken a life beginning to settle in. Of course, all academy students were given emotional conditioning, but there was always a difference between training and real life.

And the way he'd killed Kimimaro didn't help. Holding the older boy's soul in the palm of his hand had been... unsettling, to say the least. It had been surreal. Some could say that they'd felt the life in a body leave as they died in their arms, but Naruto had literally held Kimimaro's life in his hand. It was so... there were no words to describe it. It was like holding a flame, but it didn't burn. Like vapor and yet, almost solid. Warm, and yet its touch sent cold pinpricks up his arm. And as he held it, he felt his own spirit come into contact with Kimimaro's, letting echoes of the bone user's sentiments flow into him.

He'd heard... whispers, ghosts of the Oto shinobi's thoughts and emotions. There hadn't been any images or memories, it was like a dream that you couldn't remember, but what he did recall was just how deep the bone user's devotion had gone. He couldn't forget because it had been undying, all consuming, _nothing _could have shaken his misplaced faith in Orochimaru and he'd have done _anything_ he'd asked him to.

Loyal to someone who'd throw your life away without a second thought, dedicated to one who only cared for himself, dying alone and un-mourned. As Naruto stared at the corpse, he couldn't help the pity that mingled with the pain that came from knowing he'd taken a life. Because it was as he told Kimimaro, he understood how he felt completely.

Then he turned to his hand, the phantom sensation of holding a soul still sending shivers down his spine.

* * *

><p>"What..." One of the brown cloaked Anbu began, stupefied by the forest of bones before him. He and his team stood on the wall of debris that lined its edge and all were perplexed by the sight that greeted them. Where there was once a sea of healthy, green trees there was now a crater filled with bony mockeries of the life that had once filled the area. "What in Kami's name happened?"<p>

"This is... it can't be." The leader breathed, his voice conveying the disbelief his mask hid.

"You recognize... whatever this is, sir?" One of the Anbu inquired.

He nodded. "This is the Shikotsumyaku... it's the Kekkei Genkai of the Kaguya clan, an extinct clan from Kiri. The ability to manipulate and grow bones, though it was rare for any of them to actually develop the ability. They were a clan of savages, their brutality was legendary and they thought of nothing but slaughter. Word is they went extinct during the Bloodline Purges... or maybe they helped inspire it. Whatever the case, there weren't supposed to be any survivors."

'_That said..._' The head of the ANBU squad thought as he surveyed the area with a critical eye. '_That would only account for the bones. What kind of jutsu would make this crater?_'

"I guess the reports were exaggerated." One of the others commented.

The leader grunted in agreement before turning to another member. "Can you sense anyone?"

The man he spoke to make a one handed sign to focus his chakra and his senses, reaching out for any nearby chakra signatures. Eventually, he detected a single, familiar individual making his way towards Konoha. "I found Naruto. He's heading back to the village; his pace is slow so he isn't running away. It would seem we missed the battle."

"He might be hurt. And maybe he can shed some light on what happened." The leader mused aloud. "Come on."

It wasn't long before they reached the blond, who seemed more subdued than any had seen the normally hyperactive child. All the ANBU took notice of his torn and blood stained clothing.

Naruto looked up and saw them moving through the trees, having replaced his sunglasses. "Oh... now back up gets here. Just typical."

"Naruto. What happened here?" The leader queried as they landed in front of him.

The Rinnegan bearer frowned, answering with a slight growl. Emotions warred within him, disgust and anger over what he'd had to do and what Orochimaru had done to Kimimaro and sadness at how the deceased shinobi's life had gone. Not to mention he was still disturbed by just how he'd killed him. "I got attacked by one of Orochimaru's goons."

"Orochimaru?" One of the ANBU parroted, suddenly more alert. "Just one? Where is he?"

Naruto replied by reaching into his pouch and pulling out a sealing scroll. "You killed him?" The blond nodded, staring at the scroll in his hand with an unreadable expression.

"Yeah..." He looked at the scroll that contained the corpse of his would-be killer. "That guy, he was too strong for me to hold anything back and too fast for me to get away."

The leader of the ANBU read the unreadable expression on Naruto's face and inquired, "Your first kill, I take it?" The leader asked in a quieter voice, receiving a nod from the Rinnegan bearer in response.

Before the blond could say anything else, Jiraiya arrived on the scene, appearing by a nearby tree in a burst of speed. "Damn. Looks like I missed quite something big."

"Master Jiraiya." "Pervy Sage!" One of the ANBU greeted at the same time Naruto called out the sage's nickname.

Jiraiya's eye twitched. "Damn it brat, I told you not to call me that in public!"

The leader chuckled. "Pervy Sage, huh? It suits you, Master Jiraiya. I get the feeling you brought this one on yourself."

The Sannin grumbled before crossing his arms before opening his mouth to say something only for more newcomers to arrive, this time in the form of the members of Naruto's team, jumping out of the trees. Sakura was the first to speak, rushing to Naruto when she saw the blood. "Naruto! Oh kami, what happened to you?"

Naruto gave a somewhat tired smile and waved her off. "I'm fine, don't worry about it Sakura? See?" He pushed on one of the holes in his clothing to reveal his unmarred skin. There was no point in denying he'd been injured when his cloths were soaked with his blood in various places. "You know how I heal. I'm already good as new."

"Bull! There's no way you could heal that quickly... from..." She then noticed forest of bones and could only gape. "Oh my... what happened?" She cast the blond a look halfway between anger and worry. "What did you get yourself into?"

"I think we'd all like an answer that one." Sasuke commented as he eyed the bones.

* * *

><p>"You're lucky to be alive right now." Sakura said in a somewhat haunted tone as the blond finished his tale.<p>

Zabuza and Haku had arrived during the conversation and stood off to the side. He'd given them the short version on the way back to Konoha, and then a more detailed explanation to his team once they were alone, omitting the Kyuubi's chakra. He'd also left out how he won, if only because the Human Path's power disturbed him so.

"Yeah... don't I know it?" The Uzumaki said, looking away and to the ground before his gaze returned to her and he smiled reassuringly. "But I'm fine Sakura, really." He brought his fist against his chest. "Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix."

Besides Kakashi, Sasuke's fist clenched at his side as he stared at the forest of bone. He was torn between being relieved his teammate was alive and well, and... envy. Not that he'd killed of course, but that he'd beaten such an opponent. That said; Sasuke wouldn't have had much of an issue with that. Then again, he'd devoted his life to killing the man who murdered his entire family. That gave him a somewhat different disposition towards the deaths of his foes than most would have at his age without far more extensive conditioning than the academy allowed.

'_Could I have won that fight?_' Sasuke couldn't help but wonder. And the real question he wanted an answer for; had it been Itachi at their age in Naruto's shoes, could he? '_Is this all the Rinnegan's power, or did he always have this potential back in the academy? How far have I fallen behind?_'

Burying those sentiments, knowing they were pointless to consider at the moment, he turned to Naruto and said, "Sounds like it was a close one. We should have been there to lend a hand." Naruto looked like he was about to say something when Sasuke closed his eyes and added, "But you handled it well on your own. You're a lot stronger than I gave you credit for." He couldn't deny that after Naruto took down someone as powerful as the Oto shinobi had been.

Naruto blinked before smiling a bit at finally getting acknowledgement from his rival. That had been a goal of his since the academy. He wanted to prove to everyone how strong he was, and the best way to pull that off was to beat the haughty number one rookie or force him to acknowledge him as strong... which had been easier said than done. He'd wanted that as badly as he had wanted to befriend the only other kid in their class that he knew understood what it meant to be completely alone in the world.

Sasuke frowned, his mind going back to what had been described to them. He subconsciously rubbed his neck as he became acutely aware of the mark Orochimaru had placed on him. The description of what Kimimaro had become once he drew on the deeper powers of the Cursed Seal had disturbed Sasuke and killed off any lingering ideas of trying to use its power. He wanted more power to avenge his family; he wasn't willing to turn himself into a monster in its pursuit.

"Kid." Zabuza spoke up, getting the blond's attention. "Something eating ya? You don't look like someone who just won a fight."

Naruto was quiet for a moment, arranging his thoughts before responding. "Well it's just... I feel kinda bad for Kimimaro." He admitted. "I mean, they guy lost his entire family. He was completely alone in the world, and he devoted himself to the guy who saved him from that hell... I can get that. That's about the same way I feel."

To the side, Sasuke frowned. That struck a chord with him, having lost his clan at a young age as well. But then he'd chosen to go it alone, to reject making connections that he felt would only hold him back and that might provide more targets for his brother... though he was recently beginning to rethink his path, at least in regards to bonds.

"But the guy he followed didn't give a damn about him." Naruto continued. "He'd have slit his throat in a heartbeat himself if he it got him anything."

After a moment, Kakashi spoke up, "While it's true life certainly dealt him a bad hand, you're not going to beat yourself up over surviving, are you?"

Naruto shook his head. "I might understand where he was coming from, but the person he chose to follow is a monster... he probably screwed over countless people in his name, and he wouldn't have stopped. He wouldn't even consider that Orochimaru was just using him." He closed his eyes before looking to his sensei and saying with conviction, "You don't have to worry about that Kakashi-sensei. I understand how he felt and I don't like how his life turned out, but I'm not sorry I won."

Some of the ANBU present, the ones who thought of him as the Kyuubi, had to reconsider some opinions of him. If a monster reacted to a kill at all, it would be reveling over it.

Jiraiya nodded, speaking up. "Good, it's never easy at first, and it's not something that should be done lightly or when there's an alternative, but it's a part of a shinobi's life."

Kakashi gave the group one of his eye smiles and said, "Lord Hokage would probably like a debriefing. Massive blasts of debris visible from a mile away would probably be cause for concern."

"Probably." Jiraiya agreed sarcastically.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat before the Third in his office, with Jiraiya leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. Afterwards, the Third wanted to make sure his grandson in all but blood was okay and so brought him to his office for a debriefing.<p>

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head. "I feared the moment I laid eyes on your kekkei genkai that they would be both a blessing and a curse."

"Hey you know me. Any trouble comes my way, and I'll meet it head on and come out on top." Naruto said confidently, managing a smile.

"I should have seen this coming." Jiraiya said with a shake of his head, somewhat disappointed in himself. "I knew it was only a matter of time before Orochimaru tried something once he found out about your Rinnegan."

"No worries, Pervy Sage." Naruto reassured him. "It turned out all right, didn't it? Besides, how am I going to protect Konoha if I can't stand up for myself?"

"Well said." Hiruzen nodded approvingly. "However, never forget that you don't have to stand alone. You're desire to protect your comrades is one shared by all shinobi of this village. Just as you desire to protect them, they desire to protect you and all the people of this village."

Naruto gave the sage his usual grin and leaned forward. "We support each other, fight together, and help each other when we're down. Because understand each other... it hurts when we see each other in pain, and we're strongest when we stand together, right old man?"

"Yes, that is the Will of Fire that gives us the strength to fight against all odds. Because all of the village and the bonds we share are important beyond all else. We love and cherish the village and its people, and fight together with and for them." The Hokage said.

"And maybe someday, the fighting will settle down." Jiraiya said, drawing the blond's attention. "It was the dream of the First Hokage and the Sage of the Six Paths that one day everyone would come to understand each other. Mine too... but of course, I never managed to make any headway." He turned his head and looked out the window. "I thought Nagato and the Fourth might have been the ones to succeed... but you already know their stories turned out." He said, looking both sad and disappointed.

And he was, but he wasn't disappointed at them. No, he felt he'd failed them by not being there when they'd needed him most.

Naruto frowned as he stared to the ground, with an angry tone he stated, "But there'd still be people like Orochimaru to mess things up." He then looked at Jiraiya. "But at least then we could focus on them, right?" He smiled confidently. "It's our duty to make sure the dreams of everyone before us live on, right Pervy Sage?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

* * *

><p>The next day, it was time for Naruto to pick up his new cloths. He'd decided to fulfill his promise to Tenten and brought Zabuza and Haku with him. It took some convincing to get the swordsman to accompany him, but he was curious to meet the young weapon user and so, the trio was walking down a mostly empty street.<p>

"Hey, Zabuza." Naruto began, somewhat curious of something. Now that he'd taken a life he couldn't help but wonder what had been going through Zabuza's mind when he killed his entire class. He'd killed one person and he hated it. The mist Jonin clearly wasn't a psycho, since he cared about Haku, so why...

"Huh?"

"What were you thinking when you ... you know, when you were a kid?"

Zabuza raised a non-existent brow. "Where'd that come from?"

The Rinnegan bearer frowned and shook his head. "I just... after yesterday, I can't get how you would just wipe out your classmates and move on."

He scoffed and returned back to the path ahead of them. "They pissed me off. That's all you need to know about it."

Naruto stared at him in disbelief. "That's it?"

"Drop it, brat." Zabuza said dismissively. Looking down at the blond, he could see that he was not finished with this discussion and decided to nip it in the bud. "Are you seriously going to go on over this? It's the past. Leave it."

Naruto clearly wasn't happy about it, but he saw that Zabuza was done talking and glared ahead of them.

As they neared the weapon shop, Naruto gestured towards the sign. "Well, this is the place." Zabuza grunted in response as Naruto entered the shop first.

Tenten was once again manning the store. She looked to the door when she heard it open and nodded in acknowledgement. "Oh, hey Naru-" She shot up when Zabuza came in behind him, her eyes wide. "Zabuza Momochi!?" In an instant, she shot over to his side so quickly one could mistake it for a Body Flicker, causing Naruto to stumble back. Once more stars filled her eyes, this time so bright they literally cast a light on Zabuza, causing a bead of sweat to roll down his face as she looked past him to the cleaver sword on his back with a dreamy smile...

'_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..._'

Naruto could only gawk at the girl who seemed to be doing a near perfect impression of Sakura and Ino as they fawned over Sasuke, staring at him as if he was the center of the universe and the answer to all the wrongs in their lives, acting like just being in his presence was one of the greatest treasures that they could ever hope or wish for...

No, to the blond's mixed disbelief and horror, it was actually _worse_ than them. As much as they fawned over Sasuke, even they couldn't match the intensity of Tenten's gaze. He was just thankful she wasn't blushing, then the blond would have quietly backed away and out of the store, and from the look on his face Haku probably would have been right behind him.

"You actually brought the Kubikiribocho! I never dreamed I'd lay eyes on such a famous weapon." She said, dancing around the ex-mist Nin and taking in the sight of the famed sword from every angle as he stood stationary, turning his head back and forth to watch her with a raised non-existent brow. "It's amazing! The design of the blade, the brilliance! The splendor! It deserves everything said about the Seven Swords! Can I hold it?!" She held out her hands, opening and closing her fingers in a given me gesture, all the while looking up at him with her starry eyes.

"Yeah, no." Zabuza stated. He was fairly sure if he let her hold the blade, he'd have to take it back by force.

Tenten looked vaguely like a kicked puppy not that such a reaction would affect the swordsman in any way. "Why not?"

"How about because you're acting like an obsessive fan girl?"

Naruto frowned, rubbing the back of his head. He felt a vague sense of deja vu as he watched the exchange, but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen this before.

Anyway, the sense was lost when Tenten angrily put her hands on her hips and glared at the swordsman. "Give me the sword!" She smiled again, reaching for it. "I just want to see it!"

"Not happening." Zabuza replied, crossing his arms.

Surprisingly, Tenten lunged at him, which the Jōnin side stepped and began back peddling, weaving around her futile attempts to steal the sword. "Give! It! To! Me!"

"Not on your life." He vanished, reappearing behind her catching her arm. "If you want to take it, try me. See how that works out for you."

He let go and Tenten kicked back, crossing her arms and grumbling before letting out a sigh. Haku then cleared his throat to get her attention, causing her to blink and rapidly look between the ice user and Naruto, seeming to suddenly remember there were others in the room before smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head. "Oh sorry, I get a little carried away when it comes to weapons."

"Really? Who would have thought?" Naruto commented sarcastically, giving her a deadpan stare.

"So, you must be Zabuza's apprentice." Tenten said to the boy in the pink kimono.

He nodded in response. "I'm called Haku. It's nice to meet you."

"Same here... I just wish I hadn't just made a fool of myself." She grumbled, getting a chuckle from the ice user.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Everyone's got their own little quirks, right?" Naruto commented, placing his hands behind his head. "So, got everything for me?"

"Yeah, give me a sec." Tenten nodded and headed to the back door. "So," she called back. "If you're his apprentice, you have to know your way around a sword."

"I do." Haku acknowledged. "But it isn't my forte."

Zabuza meanwhile was inspecting the weapons, taking a sword off of a rack and going over it a critical eye. "The brat tells me that your old man runs this place. He knows his steel, I'll give him that."

"I'll tell him you said that." Tenten said as she emerged, holding a bag containing the vests Naruto had ordered. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it coming from the holder of a famous sword." She placed the bag on the counter. "All right, do you have the receipt?"

"Yep, right here!" Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, which Tenten took and glanced at.

"Ok, they're all yours." She said, sliding the bag over to the blond, who gave an eager grin as he took it. He'd already written storage seals on his wrist guards and on the back of his gloves, he couldn't wait to try them out in a fight. "Ne, Zabuza." She said, turning to the ex-mist Jōnin. "Could you give me some pointers for swords?"

"... You can't be serious." Zabuza replied skeptically.

"You didn't exactly make the best first impression..." Haku commented, giving the girl a somewhat pitying look.

Tenten rubbed the back of her head again. "Yeah, sorry about all that before... Look, it's a dream of mine to master all the weapons out there, and you're the best swordsman in Konoha I know of right now."

"Come on, Zabuza. I bet she'd be an amazing pupil! You should see the way she handled herself in her match with Sakura! If she's half as good with a sword as she is with a spear, you could be looking at the perfect person to pass on your sword skills to!" Naruto said before grinning slyly. "And I bet you could get her to lay off the sword if you helped her out."

The Jonin growled before saying, "Fine, I'll see what you've got and think about it IF you lay off of Kubikiribocho."

Tenten seemed to hesitate for a moment. On the one hand, it meant she'd probably never get the chance to handle such a famous sword. On the other, Zabuza could probably teach her more about swords than anyone else in the village, even her sensei. Of course, it wasn't like she'd have a chance to hold the sword anyway...

Finally, she sighed, "All right." She smiled at the blond. "Thanks Naruto."

"No problem, Tenten. But..." He turned to Zabuza. "Mind if I join in?"

The Jōnin regarded Naruto curiously, as did Haku. Thy found the blond's request was odd as he hadn't shown any signs of being interested in swords during their training. And quite frankly they didn't seem to suit his style. "And since when did you want to be swordsman?"

"Well, it's kind of a recent thing." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head. "And I'm not really looking to become a swordsman. I mean, I'm still trying to figure out what would fit me best. Since Tenten knows so much about weapons, I figured she might be able to help me out there."

"You do realize you won't make any meaningful progress within a week."

Naruto seemed annoyed by the insinuation. "I know that! I'm talking about after the finals."

Zabuza shrugged, "I guess it depends why you had the sudden change of heart. I'm not going to waste my time if this is just some passing interest."

"Trust me, it's not. I'll tell you all about it later."

"Hey, Zabuza." Tenten said, drawing the Jounin's attention, only for him to cringe slightly at the once more starry eyed, hopeful expression on her face. "I've read that the seven swords are special. Can you tell be about your sword? Please?"

Zabuza's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Didn't I tell you to lay off it?"

"I don't want to touch it... I just want to know about it." She said in a slightly gushing manner.

Zabuza crossed his arms and held his head high. This was a point of pride for him. "My sword doesn't do anything that actually improves my combat capabilities. Of all the seven swords, it's the only one without some gimmick. Kubikiribocho's wielder has to earn his place with pure skill."

"But what about the others?"

"Tch, it'll take too long to go into all of them. Besides, some of the others are downright ridiculous. How you can call the Kabutowari a sword is beyond me."

"I don't care what if it's a sword, a scythe, and an axe, whatever. I'll gladly embrace any weapon out there." Tenten said, wrapping her arms around her chest and smiling dreamily.

"Yeah, we got that." Naruto stated, giving her a deadpan stare.

* * *

><p>"Lord Orochimaru's not going to be pleased about this..." Yoroi said; shaking his head as Kabuto relayed his findings to him, standing on a rooftop under by the moonlight.<p>

"Indeed. It seems we severely underestimated Naruto. He must have tapped into the beast's power. Still, to defeat Kimimaro..." Kabuto shook his head.

Even now, the bespectacled spy could hardly fathom that Kimimaro had actually been defeated. He, alongside Kabuto himself, had been Orochimaru's top subordinate.

He was respected and feared as the most powerful shinobi of their village, if one could call Oto that, short of their leader himself. On his debut, he had managed to single-handedly take down the Sound Four, Orochimaru's personal bodyguards and elite force, and had thus been given command of the group. He served as the perfect instrument of Orochimaru's will, the perfect tool, the ultimate enforcer, his herald and, if things had gone differently, one of the few willing to become his vessel without resistance, alongside one other.

Any mission he was given, accepted and completed without fail and with maximum efficiency, any target, dead or captured. The younger teen was not only the most powerful, but also the most devoted servant to their master. He refused to let the Sannin down in anyway, even if that meant pushing himself far beyond the point of collapse... until now.

This was a failure, plain and simple. And now they'd probably increase the watch on Naruto. They'd lost all hope of claiming the Rinnegan before the finals and yet...

He wished he'd been there. The Kyuubi's power alone wouldn't have been enough to take down Kimimaro, not the first time it was tapped into. It had to be the Rinnegan's power. To see the power of the Six Paths, even in a child... And he had a feeling Orochimaru would feel the same way.

After all, Kimimaro's loss was no major setback. He'd tried to hide it, but they had learned the truth. He was dying; he wouldn't have been any use to them for much longer. They hadn't even planned to include him in the invasion. It was that despair, the knowledge that this may have been his last chance to serve their master that had spurred him to put his all into this... only to fall.

How tragic.

Kabuto smiled, tilting his head to the side, the light of the moon reflecting off of his glasses, hiding his eyes with their eerie shine. "Well, it's no matter. We'll simply have to collect him once the invasion is over, along with Sasuke." He began to walk away before saying over his shoulder. "Ah, by the way, you're to meet Lord Orochimaru with me when he returns." He didn't turn to face his teammate, hiding the fact that his grin was widening further, his expression radiating sinister intentions. "He has a task in mind for you..."

"Oh, and what is it?" Yoroi asked, his eyebrows narrowing. He wasn't a spy for nothing, and he knew perfectly well what kind of person his boss was and how little the lives of his subordinates meant to him.

However, he hadn't expected Kabuto to lash out, his hand glowing blue with chakra. The older spy kicked himself back to dodge the blow, but the blade of energy simply lengthened, passing through his leg.

On the surface, it seemed to do no damage, but Yoroi let lose a growl that was equal parts shock and pain as he felt his muscles and ligaments sever at the blades passing, disabling his leg.

Kabuto immediately shot forward, and caught off balance as he was Yoroi was powerless to defend himself against the grey haired shinobi's superior speed as he stabbed three senbon into his neck.

Letting out a grunt, he swung his arm out only for Kabuto to leap back, watching him with a grin as the poison took effect, injected directly into the jugular, and the toxin was on the fast track straight to his brain. "What is... the meaning of this Kabuto?" Yoroi's voice was strained as his vision began to blur and a creeping sense of numbness spread up from his extremities. Soon enough, he felt his legs completely give way, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Rejoice, for you have been picked for a most auspicious task, Yoroi." Kabuto's smile widened as he adjusted his glasses with his index finger. Yoroi could barely make out Kabuto's form, but he could discern the glowing white orbs of his lenses. It was the last thing he could make out before darkness consumed him "You've been chosen to serve as one of the sacrifices that will assure out victory over Konoha."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this chapter.<strong>

**As always, please review.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry for the wait. Here's the next chapter of Jinchuriki of the Six Paths.**

**I'm afraid I've hit another wall with the next chapter of Legends of Two Jinchuriki. It might still be a while before I manage to update it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

><p>As the sun shined its rays down on the Konohagakure, people lined the streets, watching a spectacle unfold that once occurred twice in a year, if even that. Children fought to peek past the legs of adults or climbed onto their parent's backs as to try to get a good look at the procession traversing the streets.<p>

The people watched as leaders and major players from all across the Elemental Nations, heading towards the stadium at the far side of the village. Business owners dressed similarly to the late Gatou, some more scrupulous than him and others, sadly, not, walked with their bodyguards. Nobles wearing exquisite robes waved as they made their way towards their destination while feudal lords rode in norimono's hoisted up by their servants, hidden behind the curtains.

The citizens of Konoha gathered to catch just a small glimpse of these powerful individuals as they continued on their way to the sight of the final stage of the exams while the Third Hokage stood on the roof of the Administration Building with two bodyguards on either side of him. His robes billowed in the wind as he looked down on all these people visiting his village to see the best among the hopeful participants show their mettle and fight for the privileged of being named chunin of their villages.

"Finally," Hiruzen said. So much would be decided today. If there was ever a time to strike at the village, now would be the time, with so much of their manpower set on guarding their new arrivals as opposed to patrolling the outskirts of the village, forced to allow so many within their defenses... he knew this would be the best time for his old student to make his move.

He could only steel himself for what lied ahead, and hope that by the end of the day, he and his beloved home were still standing.

* * *

><p>Naruto turned to look out at the village from his spot in the middle of his team's most frequented training ground, a single shadow clone standing across from him and following his gaze. He'd gotten up bright and early in anticipation for the exams and after completing his usual morning rituals, gone out there for a warm up as he waited.<p>

Today was the day he'd been waiting for months for. The day he'd show everyone in Konoha he wasn't the dead last anymore. He was painfully aware that he'd been all talk before Wave, but he sure as hell wasn't anymore, and after today everyone would it.

He knew there was the possibility of Orochimaru making another move on him, but he wasn't too far outside the village unlike last time. He was confident that should it come to it he could make it back to the walls soon enough.

The rogue Sannin was the one low point of the day though. He couldn't deny he was concerned, being a prankster, he knew the easiest way to sneak in would be when the target was expecting a large number of arrivals, a party or some major event, as long as you could blend in with the crowd, something he'd been able to do when he was still in the academy.

For experienced Shinobi, it'd be child's play. And anything Orochimaru brought to the party wouldn't be for kicks.

But there was nothing he could do about that, so he did his best not to think on it. Either way, it looked like the time for practice was over though. Leaping up to the tallest nearby tree, he looked out at the main entrance to the village. There, he saw the last of the spectators making their way through the gates, a single golden colored norimono among them.

The blond grinned at the sight. "Looks like it's just about showtime." He made a half turn back and looked down at his clone. "Time to get moving."

The clone nodded before dispersing. Naruto made a hand sign and disappeared in a burst of smoke and a flicker of leaves.

* * *

><p>Naruto reappeared on a rooftop down the road from the combatant's entrance. Briefly, he looked to the procession heading into the stadium. From where he was, you could just make out how the people gathered along the streets.<p>

He then turned to his designated entrance, his brow furrowing as he thought of the fights ahead of him. Right off the bat he would be up against Rock Lee, a dead last like him who'd managed to become one of the best genin of this generation through sheer hard work. Even he couldn't boast that, he had advantages no one else had. He was easily one of his rivals he respected the most for coming as far as he did through nothing but effort.

He leapt off of the building, landing in a crouch before righting himself and beginning to walk to the entrance.

"Naruto." A familiar voice caught his attention. He turned his head to see Sakura running towards him.

"Hey, Sakura." The blond greeted with a grin as she neared.

Once she came to a stop she took in the sight of his new attire. "What's with the new look?"

The Rinnegan bearer shrugged. "Eh, you know. I thought it was time for a change. What do you think?"

Sakura blinked. "What do I think? I think it's a hell of a lot better than that stupid tracksuit you used to wear."

"EH!? You too Sakura!?" Naruto cried in shock before putting his hands on the side of his head and making a noise of frustration. "My old clothes were awesome! Why is everyone against me on this?!"

Sakura giggled at his antics. "The fact that everyone agrees should tell you something."

Naruto sighed and grumbled, "Man..." under his breath. Sakura shook her head, but then she frowned as she remembered something.

"Although..." She said, putting the blond's attention back on her. "What's with the spiral on the back? I've never seen it inside a design like that before."

"Oh, it's my clan's symbol." Naruto replied, brightening up, getting an understanding 'oh' from the pink haired girl. He then tilted his head slightly and asked, "So, is anyone gonna be here to cheer you on? In the stands, I mean?"

She nodded, though her expression was a little... odd to him. "Yep, my mom's going to be here rooting for me." Sakura was happy that her mother was there to see her... but she wasn't sure she should mention her to Naruto given how she talked about him. That aside, she wasn't sure she wanted her to see what was up ahead.

No matter how she'd run through the battle in her mind, she just didn't see herself winning this fight. No, this wouldn't be about coming out on top; it would be about surviving and doing as much damage as possible. If things went wrong... well, she was fairly sure she'd come out alive. After what happened in the prelims everyone would probably be on high alert around the sand genin, but it would probably scare her mother half to death.

He raised a fist near his best as he said, "I bet we're all going to wow the crowd. Make sure you show her something amazing out there." She nodded, looking away and after a moment of silence, he became more serious. "Hey." She looked up at him again. "You sure you're up to this?"

She closed her eyes and nodded, determined to face what lied ahead, for herself and her team. "Yeah. I've been working myself into the ground for the last month, so I better be."

Naruto nodded back before looking past her and smirking. "Well, look what the cat dragged in." Sakura followed his gaze and saw Sasuke, wearing an all-black version of his normal clothing. Like everything else he wore, the shirt had the Uchiha clan's symbol on the back. "Looks like the gang's all here."

Sasuke just gave a grunt of affirmation as he joined his teammates. He was sure Naruto already addressed their teammate's fight, so he simply said, "Let's get a move on. I'd rather not let anyone think Kakashi might be rubbing off on us."

Naruto chuckled and shook his head, "Yeah, or next thing you know everyone's going to expect us to come up with terrible excuses for everything." Sakura smiled and nodded, and the three turned and walked into the darkened passage.

Soon enough the trio emerged within the arena, they were surprised when they found a new proctor waiting for them. Rather than the sickly Hayate, there was a man with shoulder length brown hair that framed his face and bandana like forehead protector and held a senbon in his mouth. Aside from that, he wore the standard attire of Konoha jounin, as many did. Several of the Konoha genin couldn't help but wonder where the other proctor was. Most guessed that whatever illness he had had gotten to him.

* * *

><p>On the highest seat in the arena, the Third Hokage sat one a stone throne with a single bodyguard standing by his side. The man had short, spiky brown hair and a scar that covered about a third of the left half of his face which narrowed down to a thin line across the bridge of his nose.<p>

Hiruzen watched as Hinata stepped into the field. She was the last of the contenders to arrive. Looking out across the stands, he saw that the new arrivals were slowing to a trickle. "It's just about time to begin. The only thing left is..." He noticed a presence approaching and turned towards it. He smiled invitingly. "Ah, speak of the devil." A younger man on the cusp of middle age, wearing robes identical to his own save for being blue in place of red and the 'wind' Kanji on the hat and the white cloth that masked the lower half of his face, flanked by two bodyguards wearing beige cloaks. "Welcome, Lord Kazekage."

* * *

><p>Down in the arena, the sand genin turned their gaze to their approaching leader. Looking from the man to the two sand siblings near him, Naruto noted Gaara was glaring at their leader. It was slight, not showing much emotion but on his usually apathetic face it stood out like a neon sign in a dark alley. The Rinnegan bearer frowned, '<em>What's this guy's problem?<em>' what could this kid possibly have against his leader?

* * *

><p>The Kazekage sat down on the empty throne beside his counterpart. "You must be tired. You just arrived and it's quite the journey between our villages."<p>

"Oh, don't worry about me." The Kazekage replied, "In fact, I'm actually thankful that the exams took place here in Konoha this time around. I'd imagine the trip would have been much harder on you. Perhaps it's time you choose a successor?"

Hiruzen only laughed at his counterparts words. "My own student said the same when I last spoke with him, but rest assured I still have a few years in me." He began to rise from the chair, "Well then, it's time we got started." Standing up straight, he called out so that all in the stands could hear him. "Welcome all to Konoha's Chunin Selection Exams! We have come to the final competition between the ten candidates that made it through the preliminaries! We ask that no one leaves until all the matches have been completed, now everyone enjoy!" His announcement was met with cheers from most of the excited spectators.

* * *

><p>"All right kids, this is the final test. In case it slipped your mind, here's the lineup." The new proctor stated before pulling out a folded sheet of paper the genin recognized as the chart Ibiki had drawn a month ago. "The rules are no different from the prelims, so you know what's ahead of you. It's a free for all, you fight until one of you either surrenders or dies but if I decide one of you can't continue, I'll step in. Got it? Any questions?"<p>

Naruto spoke up, frowning in curiosity, "Yeah, two. Who are you and where's the old proctor?"

The man resisted the urge to wince at the reminder and closed his eyes, though the blond, Neji, Shikamaru and Sasuke noted how his brow crinkled. "His illness is acting up, so I had to step in for him." He pointed his thumb at himself. "The name's Genma Shiranui. Anything else?" Getting no response from the assembled genin, he nodded, "Good. Now, first match is Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee. Everyone else place leave the arena."

Naruto and Lee took their places on either side of Genma as the rest of the genin left the arena floor.

The bowl haired boy smiled at his opponent as he slipped into his fighting stance, his feet spread in a 90 degree angle and his left arm behind his back, his right hand held flat before him. "Let's have a most youthful battle, Naruto. And perhaps both of us will make it to chunin."

Naruto grinned in response, his pupils dilating behind his sunglasses as he activated his dōjutsu activated. "Right back at you, Lee!"

* * *

><p>In the stands, Kotetsu smiled. "Well, who'd of thought that runt would make it this far?"<p>

"Got that right." Izumo commented. "Naruto Uzumaki and Rock Lee... two kids from the bottom of the barrel who managed to clamber their way into the big leagues."

His partner chuckled. "This ought to be good.

* * *

><p>"This should be an interesting opening act." The Kazekage mused as he observed the two combatants. "If memory serves, both of them were the dead lasts of their classes. Dismissed for having no apparent talent. I'm sure they're both anxious to prove themselves."<p>

The Third Hokage nodded, chuckling slightly. "I can safely say I've met few with the level of determination those two possess. They never back down, never give in. This fight should push both to their limits."

* * *

><p>Now that she was outside of the sight of her clansmen in the stands, Hinata allowed herself to fidget slightly, pressing her index fingers together. She was confident Naruto would win this battle but... 'If Naruto and I win... then I'll have to fight him... I don't want that but... I can't fail father...'<p>

"He's changed a lot since we were in the academy, hasn't he?" Sakura said, turning to Sasuke.

"He's not the only one." The Uchiha replied; his eyes focused on the two combatants. He smirked, "He'll win. He's too stubborn for anything else."

Sakura smiled at his side as her gaze returned to the match. "Tell me something I don't know."

Kiba crossed his arms. "Heh, I hope he doesn't take it too hard when he loses."

"Kiba..." Hinata looked at him disparagingly.

The Inuzuka shrugged. "What? He's up against one of your cousin's teammates. No matter how you look at it, he's the underdog."

"Sakura defeated Tenten..."

"Yeah, but she relies too much on her weapons. You know what they say; weapons don't make the man... or girl."

* * *

><p>"Go for it Lee! Let the power of your youth burn brightly!" Gai cheered in the stands before turning to Kakashi, who was looking down at the arena with his usual apathetic expression. "Sorry Kakashi, but I'm afraid that it doesn't stand a chance against my student."<p>

Kakashi turned to Gai, his expression unchanging. "Hm? You say something Gai?" The green clad jounin promptly clenched his fist and growled his expression one of comical frustration. Turning back to the match, he said, "Neither of those two knows how to give up. This will probably be a close one."

* * *

><p>Genma looked from one combatant to the other and decided that it was about time to get the battle underway. "Now, the first match... Begin!"<p>

At the proctor's call Lee immediately disappeared in a burst of speed, wanting to make the first move. With his dōjutsu, Naruto was able to follow his movements and turned as the taijutsu expert appeared behind him halfway through, poised to lash out with a kick. The blond deflected the blow with his forearm, getting within Lee's defenses and throwing a punch at the green clad boy's chest.

Lee caught the Rinnegan bearer's fist with his palm, but his opponent had been ready for that move. He twisted his body, avoiding Lee's leg as he pulled it back and kicked out, forcing Lee to block with his other arm as Naruto's free hand touched the ground. The moment he could ground himself, he attacked with his free leg, forcing Lee to jump away and into a back flip both righting themselves as Naruto went on the offensive.

The two genin clashed, beginning a fierce exchange of taijutsu. Lee was faster and more skilled, but Naruto could read his every move, allowing him to keep up with the taijutsu expert. Lee frowned at the fact that his moves were being read. Neji had told his teammates that Naruto had an unknown bloodline, but they had no idea of its capabilities beyond the standard abilities of an eye based bloodline.

'Whatever power he possesses, I will simply have to overcome it.' Lee decided determinedly. The blond ducked under a sweeping kick from the taijutsu expert before kicking himself back as he brought his leg up and slammed it down on where he'd been a moment before. "You have grown a great deal since you graduated in the academy." Lee commented as he swept aside a punch and retaliated with by punching at the blond's face. Naruto leaned back, letting the punch pass inches past his face but had to jump back when Lee shifted his arm and attempted to ram his elbow into his chest. "But do you really think you can match me at my specialty?"

Naruto grinned as he landed and launched himself at Lee. "Who knows, I'm full of surprises!"

Closing the distance almost immediately, the blond launched a punch at Lee's face... and instantly his dōjutsu let him know he'd made a mistake, but he couldn't do anything about it. Both Lee's arms shot into motion, one catching Naruto's wrist and the other shot forward, the palm slamming into Naruto's neck, causing him to gag and breaking his defenses.

The taijutsu expert followed up with a punch to the solar plexus, followed by rapid blows to his vital spots. The blond managed to recover by letting himself fall back, tilting his body to avoid a kick and planting his hand on the ground, countering with a strike of his own. Lee dodged to the side, catching Naruto's leg and throwing him away before vanishing in another Body Flicker like burst of speed brought about by his pure mastery of the physical shinobi arts.

Lee reappeared in the blond's path and threw a punch aimed at his chest, but Naruto twisted himself and grabbed Lee's arm while still flying, using his momentum to drag the green clad boy with him and flip him around, kicking at his torso, only for Lee to block by holding his arms in an x formation.

When Naruto landed, he shot forward as Lee crashed to the ground, but the bowl haired boy immediately recovered and kicked upward, nearly catching Naruto's chin but the blond stopped at the last moment. He was forced to disengage when Lee nearly swept his legs out from under him.

Flipping back onto his feet and coiling his body like a spring and launching himself at Naruto. "Leaf Hurricane!"

Naruto ducked beneath the attack, letting the green clad boy sail over him. Lee placed one foot on the ground and spun into a kick. Naruto blocked it with his forearm and caught Lee's elbow when he tried to follow up with a blow to the chest, but that left him open when Lee flipped up, slamming his foot into Naruto's chin.

Lee leapt into the air and aimed a kick at Naruto's chest, but Naruto managed to catch it, twist himself into a spin and toss Lee to the ground, where he landed without any damage. He turned to the blond as Naruto continued to flip, maneuvering himself into an axe kick. Lee blocked the attack with his forearm and swept his the attack away, throwing a punch at the blond's torso. Naruto deflected the blow but was struck in his stomach by a kick, sending him careening back.

Naruto ran his hands along his wrist guards and summoned six shuriken between his fingers and tossing them at Lee, who weaved around them, caught two and threw them back as the blond landed, forcing him to duck under them.

Lee crossed the remaining distance and jumped forward, launching a kick at the Uzumaki, but he hadn't expected Naruto to form a cross shaped hand sign before he disappeared behind a cloud of smoke. The cloud was blown away as four clones of the blond emerged, flanking the taijutsu expert from both sides.

Suddenly surrounded, Lee deflected their blows as they rained down on him, the four working in tandem to ensure he had no openings to exploit before the real Naruto launched himself at him with a cry of effort, his right fist cocked back to punch him while his left formed a one handed seal, two more clones coming at him from both sides.

Lee brushed aside the attack of a clone and retaliated with a spinning kick, forcing it back before ducking down as another came at him from behind with high kick before moving to catch the fast but telegraphed attack of the blond. However, at the moment of attack he didn't see a mark briefly appear on Naruto's glove the moment after his fist began its journey towards Lee's face.

During the later stages of their training, Jiraiya had decided to forgo actual weights in favor of weighting seals that accomplished the same effect and had the advantage of not needing to be lugged around and were far more easily adjusted. Naruto, fascinated by the art as he was, was always looking for ways to innovate seals and use them in new ways.

Like, for example, placing one such seal on his glove so he could activate it mid punch to enhance the force of his blow. It was kind of dangerous, since the added weight would be trouble if he missed, which was why he'd only ever use it with back up or on an immobilized opponent.

Thus, when Lee moved to defend against the attack headed this way, he had no way of knowing that an additional 150 lbs. had been added to Naruto's had half way on its journey towards his face, vastly enhancing both its force and its speed.

The bowl haired boy moved to grab the blond's arm in preparation to use his momentum to throw him into one of his clones, unaware that his fist now weighed more than the rest of his body put together.

He had no time to express his shock when his maneuver failed, the attack slipping through his guard.

The attack hit home with all the force of an avalanche, sending blood from Lee's mouth as his jaw was dislocated by the blow. He was sent careening back, stunned by the unexpectedly powerful punch.

* * *

><p>"What the-?" Gai exclaimed as he saw his student's prized taijutsu fail.<p>

* * *

><p>One of the clones promptly used the Body Flicker to move ahead of him, intercepting him halfway across the arena and kicking his flying form, sending him into higher where the other three clones did the same, one moving ahead of him to kick him back to the others.<p>

They left him no opportunity to recover as they pounded him with blows to his face and vital areas, punching his kidneys and his nose, giving an axe kick to his collarbone and knocking him down where one clone waited to knock him back into the air.

The real Naruto jumped up, having released his seal. His fist cocked back, he prepared to perform the same attack on the still helpless Lee.

"Get ready Lee, this one's gonna hurt!" Once more, he threw a punch, the seal activating half way through the attack. It slammed into Lee's sternum, causing him to cough up blood before launching him clear across the arena and into the wall of the stadium, impacting hard enough to send cracks through the stone and kick up a cloud of dust.

The seal glowed again as it was deactivated once more, allowing Naruto to fall back to the ground with his normal weight as his clones returned to his side and awaited the results of their assault.

* * *

><p>"What in the hell was that?" Asuma wondered aloud as he blinked at the display he'd just witnessed. He turned to Kakashi. "Hey Kakashi, are you trying to turn this kid into another Tsunade or something?"<p>

Kakashi shook his head. "I'm as surprised as you are, but I don't think whatever that was anything like Tsunade's strength..."

"I have to agree with you there, my rival. The movements were wrong..." Gai said; his eyes narrowed as he figured out what the blond had done.

"Whatever it was after an attack like that Lee has to be feeling the pain." Anko said, grinning at the arena. "Nice job, kid! Take him down!"

* * *

><p>The dust cleared moments later to reveal Lee in a kneeling position, wincing with a hand on his chin as he'd just reset his jaw. He wiped a trail of blood that oozed from his mouth with his wrist. "That... was a good move." the bowl haired boy acknowledged. "I was surprised by the sudden change in your attack, and those clones gave me no room to defend myself."<p>

"Well, I thought it was about time to take the kid gloves off." Naruto replied confidently. Lee was a lot better than him in taijutsu, but there wasn't as big a gap as there was between him and Kimimaro.

"My thoughts exactly." Lee admitted, piquing Naruto's curiosity. He doubted he'd pull out the Lotus under these circumstances, so what else could he mean?

His question was answered when Lee pulled down his leg warmers, to reveal... "Leg weights?"

* * *

><p>"Eh? Seriously?" Sakura questioned, looking at them skeptically. "I mean... I know they're kind of effective for training, but..."<p>

* * *

><p>"What an idiot." Kankuro commented dismissively beside his sensei in the stands, resting his head on his hand. "Like that'll make any difference."<p>

* * *

><p>Gai chuckled. "Lee's about to cut loose. I hadn't expected him to have to go all out this early in, but this match is as good as over."<p>

Kakashi said nothing. Normally, he wouldn't be worried about someone pulling off leg weights... but he knew Gai and so stared at the arena, the only indication of his thoughts was a slightly narrowed eye.

* * *

><p>"What's that gonna do?" Anko laughed uproariously beside Zabuza and Haku. "The kid's got this one in the bag."<p>

"I wouldn't be too sure..." Zabuza said, scrutinizing the weights the boy was holding. "I've seen all kinds of crazy shit out there... and the way this kid's acting, there's gotta be more to this than meets the eye."

* * *

><p>"Whoa, you've been fighting wearing those this whole time?" Naruto asked, seeming impressed. He'd thought of using them to train and maybe when walking around, but he wouldn't have brought them to a real fight.<p>

Lee nodded. "And now I can finally move freely." And with that, he tossed the weights away. Everyone in the stands watched as they began their journey to the ground, none of whom shared Naruto's awe at the display. Leg weights were a fairly common training tool after all, though few would wear them into a fight. Still, the how much could something like that possibly change? The average shinobi never used anything beyond 100 pounds, 200 being extreme. They would improve his speed, but nowhere near enough to overcome Naruto together with his clones.

Those were the thoughts of everyone in the arena who did not know Maito Gai.

And those delusions were dispelled when the weights crashed into the ground, tearing through it with enough force to leave massive craters and kick up clouds of dirt that crested above the walls of the arena. The people in the stands gaped in their seats as they actually felt the tremors produced by the impact from their place in the stands.

When the dust cleared, it revealed a pair of craters carved into the earth by the impact, causing blond to stare in wide eyed, open mouthed shock. He'd expected that for someone like Lee they had to be crazy heavy, but that was just ridiculous!

* * *

><p>Sakura could only gawk while Sasuke's jaw had dropped beside her. "That's... impossible..." The Uchiha mumbled in spite of himself as he quickly realized Lee must have been wearing those same weights when they fought. His coal eyes bled crimson as he activated his Sharingan, knowing he might not be able to follow what was about to unfold otherwise.<p>

Everyone else in the fighter's booth save Neji and Gaara shared their shock.

* * *

><p>Anko had frozen in her seat, staring down at the spectacle with wide eyes.<p>

Zabuza sighed beside her. "Yep... that's what I thought..."

* * *

><p>"Well that was... unexpected." The Kazekage commented.<p>

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head. "I should have known..."

* * *

><p>"Ah, that is much better." The bowl haired boy said as he rose to his feet, shifting back into his fighting stance with a confident smirk. "Now, let us both fight with everything we have."<p>

Naruto came out of his stupor and shook his head with a slight chuckle. "You're something else, Lee." Then he took on his own stance. "Show me what you got, because I don't plan on losing."

"Neither do I." And with that, Lee vanished, moving so quickly he became invisible to the naked eye. Naruto barely had time to raise his arms in defense before Lee's attack slammed into his defenses, the force of the blow causing the blond to wince as its power and momentum drove him back a foot. Lee flipped backwards, kicking at Naruto with his legs. Fortunately for the blond, he saw him preparing for the move through the eyes of his clones, two of which leaping back to fight at a range and extend their sight while the others rushed to help.

They converged on Lee, but he burst into blurred motion again the moment his feet touched the ground, striking at Naruto from behind with a high kick aimed at his head. Naruto ducked forward, letting the attack sail over his head before turning around to counter, only for Lee to vanish again.

The next attack was too fast, the bowl haired boy unleashing a vicious punch from the side... only for the blond to burst into smoke. "So you replaced yourself with one of your clones, eh?" He questioned as he burst into motion again, this time attacking one of the clones who had shifted to long range. The doppelganger could barely defend against the assault the bowl haired boy unleashed upon him, only the perspectives of the others prevented him from being torn apart.

'_This is crazy! Bushy Brows is faster than Kimimaro! Hell, he's almost as fast as Haku when he's in the ice mirrors!_' The real Naruto made to replace his fallen clones as the others made the tiger hand seal.

Two of the clones attacked him with the speed granted by the Body Flicker, coming at him in two different directions. The three clashed in a heated exchange so fast that it was invisible to the observers; however, the end result was clearly seen by all. A cloud of smoke revealed the destruction of a clone as the other appeared and skidded across the ground as it spun to face its opponent, while Lee's flying figure, bent in an arc, showed that he had not vanquished the replica without cost.

Another clone moved to capitalize on the opening as the real Naruto created two more clones, its chest puffing up. 'Water Style: Wild Water Wave!' It released a wide torrent of water from its mouth. Lee's hand touched the ground a moment before the stream would have collided with him and threw him out of the way, landing on his feet and blurring away again.

He reappeared before the clone that used the water jutsu, who cut it off immediately. It moved its arms to defend, only for Lee to change course and attack the real Naruto. He struck his chest as he rushed by, the short distance between them giving him little time to react to the fake out. The force of the blow forced Naruto's body to twist halfway as the bowl haired teen stopped and immediately attacked again, this one sending the blond off his feet and flying back where he was once more struck by the ridiculously fast genin, rebounding him away from his clones.

Lee appeared in a crouch along the blond's path and unleashed a high kick the nailed him in the chin, sending him into the air with a grunt, blood trailing from his mouth.

Lee immediately leapt after him, kicking him in the chest, the beginning of a series of blows that kept the blond held aloft, at the mercy of the taijutsu expert.

* * *

><p>"Naruto!" Sakura cried worriedly. Sasuke smirked at her side, already guessing how his teammate would get out of this mess, and knowing that it would leave Lee wide open.<p>

* * *

><p>Sure enough, Lee punched Naruto in the face... only for him to burst into smoke, causing him to make a sound of shock. The real Naruto fell on his butt and rubbed his bleeding and arching mouth. Pain racking his torso and his glasses had been knocked off kilter, but fortunately not off. Two of the clones ran towards Lee, unable to use his speed while airborne, and leapt at him.<p>

The taijutsu expert's apparent vulnerability did not, however, negate the difference in skill. Lee grabbed the outstretched hand of one of the clones and pushed him down, placing his other hand on its back and using it as a platform to flip, allowing him to attack the other clone with an axe kick, destroying it.

The clone, indignant at having been used as a board, rounding on him with a sweeping kick, only for Lee to catch it between his knee and elbow, the damage to the joint sufficient to destroy it.

The other clones instead prepared jutsu as the real Naruto stood up to replace his lost clones; his others prepared their own jutsu. The first fired a water bullet, this one packed with more chakra to increase its size and force. Lee was unable to dodge as the sphere liquid crashed into him, driving him back. The other clone once more used Body Flicker, jumping to the far side of the arena before launching itself at Lee, slamming its foot into his back.

Lee planted his hand on the ground and used it to slow himself and then flip back onto his feet as the other clone prepared to use the Body Flicker itself. This time, as there was only one clone, Lee emerged with a flawless victory from the high speed clash.

He then put distance between them, reappearing half the battlefield away from the clones. '_How much chakra does he have? With those clones of his, dealing a decisive blow will be difficult. On top of that, because they think the same... and perhaps their dojutsu..._' Neji had, of course, informed his teammates of his findings, not that he knew anything about the dojutsu. '_They work together flawlessly. Every opening is capitalized on... I need to end this battle quickly._' And with his fairly small store of techniques, he had only one technique that he knew could end the battle.

The bowl haired boy unwrapped the bandages around his arms, letting the stray strip dangle in the air, causing Naruto's eyes to widen as he immediately knew what he was about to do.

"This was a most youthful fight Naruto..." As Lee crossed his arms over his chest, Naruto's clones quickly ran through hand signs.

They weren't fast enough.

"But now it is over!" Lee took off, moving so fast he tore a groove into the earth and kicked up a trail of dust behind him. In a matter of moments, he'd ripped through all of Naruto's clones before turning on the real blond, appearing before him and kicking him in the chin before he could react, sending him high into the air.

Lee kneeled and placed his fingertips on the ground before appearing behind Naruto as the bandages began to encircle him. The Rinnegan Bearer managed to recover and make the snake hand seal before he was constricted completely. "Not this time! There's no jutsu that can get you out of this! This is the end!"

"Don't count on it!" Naruto replied, pouring as much chakra as he could into the jutsu forming. Lee had completely immobilized him, but the jutsu he wanted to use only required one hand seal. It was a technique that could summon mass amounts of water, either by having it gush from their mouths or calling it from aquifers deep within the ground. The latter required more chakra, especially if you weren't in contact with the ground.

Fortunately, if there was one thing he had in spades it was chakra, especially since he stopped wasting it by spamming mass amounts of clones to serve as cannon fodder.

Lee began to spin the two as they fell head first toward the earth. '_Water Style:-!_'

"Primary-!"

'_Exploding Water Shock Wave!_'

In the spot where they would have collided with the ground in only a few short seconds, a massive geyser burst into the sky, rising 40 Yards into the air before falling down. Genma could only gape in shock before he was forced to kick himself back as gravity asserted itself and the water fell back to earth and came forth as a wave, washing away all it came into contact with. He reached the wall and stuck to it with his chakra as the wave crashed beneath him.

* * *

><p>"Lee!" A worried Gai cried as he gripped the arms of his chair. What was once assurance of his student's victory had turned to fear for his wellbeing? Even if he did manage to emerge mostly unscathed, the strain of his failed Lotus would weaken him a great deal.<p>

"What on earth!?" Ino cried at the sight.

* * *

><p>"What the hell?! When did Naruto pick something like that up?!" Kiba questioned as he grabbed the rails, staring at the arena in disbelief.<p>

* * *

><p>When the geyser finally died down, the newly created lake was twelve feet deep. For a few moments, nothing moved as the surface calmed and everyone searched the arena for any sign of the two combatants.<p>

Then Lee burst from the water and skid to a halt upon it, sending ripples across the new battleground before falling to his knees and breathing heavily, his lungs grateful for the sudden influx of oxygen after the unexpected tsunami, not to mention the stress of Lee's technique. He quickly looked around, trying to figure out where Naruto was.

He was answered when a new, diagonal cascade burst from the water right in front of him, far too close to dodge. He cried out as he was driven into the wall, slamming into it with enough force to crack the stone. His cry of pain was reduced to a gurgle, drowned out by the crushing torrent that battered his already weathered body before it finally let up and allowing him to fall.

The moment he touched down, three clones burst from the water's surface and set upon him. He fought back, but with the strain of the Lotus weighing him down he was unable to use the speed he was so proud of and was quickly overwhelmed.

He deflected a blow from a clone only for another to strike him in the solar plexus, forcing the air from his lungs and making him keel over. He was then besieged by blows to his vital spots, his stomach and kidneys before he forced a powerful sweeping kick through the pain, forcing them back... only for a fourth replica to rise from the water directly beneath him and deliver a powerful uppercut to his chin, sending him sprawling back, but he recovered and flipped away.

* * *

><p>"Nice going brat!" Anko cheered loudly, having risen from her seat. "You had me going there for a minute." She sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. "For a minute there, I thought he might have just cost me a small fortune."<p>

"You're not the only one." Zabuza grumbled before turning to Haku. "You're missing out, you know. They've got him as the underdog."

"I don't gamble." Haku replied, frowning as he stared at the arena. "And I don't think it's over just yet."

* * *

><p>"Nice try, Lee." Naruto, or at least one of his clones it was hard to tell, said. "You almost had me there. A second later and I would have been done for."<p>

"Yes, it was a close one. I was certain that that would have been the end of the match." The bowl haired boy replied as he rose to his feet. "We were both dead lasts, but I have had an entire year to improve myself since then. You have risen far in a short amount of time. You're youth truly burns brightly."

"Thanks." Naruto responded with a wide grin. "I worked my ass off, you know? Though I don't think there's anyone who puts as much effort into this as you do."

"I have told you, my philosophy is that hard work beats out raw talent, and I have devoted my life to proving that. Besides..." the green clad boy's eyes narrowed. "I could not let Gai-sensei down, and I wanted to show everyone that I was not just a failure."

Naruto's smile took on a sympathetic air as he nodded, "Yeah, I know the feeling."

"Is that what pushed you to come as far as you have?"

Naruto's smile shifted into a slight scowl. "Part of it." At Lee's questioning look, he elaborated. "I had a big mouth, but back at the academy, I was a real screw up..." '_It wasn't entirely my fault, since no one but Iruka-sensei wanted to teach me but..._' "... and I didn't have enough time to change that before we had our first real mission... I messed up and nearly got my teammates killed." He tilted his head forward, and Lee got the impression he had closed his eyes. "We weren't ready for it. Our enemies were way stronger than us, but it doesn't change the fact that I nearly cost us everything. We probably would have died if our enemy wasn't such a nice guy he went out of his way not to." He looked up, his brow furrowed. "After that, I swore to myself I'd never drag anyone around me down again. I never want to see the people I care about in that kind of trouble again if I can help it. I still want to prove myself to everyone... but more than that I want to know that I can protect the people close to me."

Lee closed his eyes solemnly. "I see... I can understand how such an experience would push one to exceed their limits." He'd thought to some extend that the awakening of Naruto's dōjutsu had something to do with his growth. It probably did, he realized, but that wasn't all there was to it. "You have been a worthy opponent Naruto, but this battle is about to end once and for all... for the Leaf Village's Lotus blooms twice."

* * *

><p>In the stands, Kakashi's visible eye widened and he turned to Gai, his gaze scrutinizing. "Gai... tell me you didn't."<p>

"It's exactly what you think." Gai replied, staring intensely at the arena.

"Of all the... you actually taught that boy to use the Hidden Lotus?"

"The what?" Tenten asked, frowning from her seat nearby.

The green clad jounin nodded. "Yes... he had the talent. I knew he would succeed."

"Even so... to teach him something so dangerous... I misjudged you, Gai." Kakashi said in clear disgust over his rival's decision.

Gai turned a harsh glare to Kakashi. "Don't judge, Kakashi. You know nothing about that boy or what he will do to prove himself." He turned back to the arena, thinking on all the times he'd seen Lee drive himself into the ground.

* * *

><p>Anko paled the moment Lee's proclamation had left his mouth. "Oh shit."<p>

Zabuza frowned. "Shit is right. Unless that kid has another trick up his sleeve, he might not have such a good shot at winning after all..."

"What do you mean? What's he talking about?" Haku asked.

"Yeah, what is it that's such a big deal?" Ino questioned. Every shinobi who knew the meaning of Lee's words had a similar reaction.

"The Hidden Lotus." Zabuza answered.

Asuma turned a curious gaze to the ex-mist jounin. "How do you know about it?"

Zabuza's eyes narrowed. "My old pals in the Seven Swordsman used to talk about a time before I came around when one man from your village managed to hold them all off at once... he pulled it off using that technique."

* * *

><p>"So... you can open more of those gates." Naruto said seriously, having worked out the meaning of those words.<p>

Lee nodded. "One way or another, this battle will end here." He closed his eyes.

Naruto's clones immediately rushed to press their attack, but it took Lee only a moment to open the second gate.

The bowl haired boy opened his eyes, revitalized by the Gate of Healing. He shot forward with all of his previous speed, briefly clashing with the clones before vanishing and reappearing on the wall of the arena. He didn't have much time before the boost brought on by the second gate ran out. He closed his eyes and focused, crossing his arms over his chest as he forced the third gate open. '_Third Gate: Gate of Life open!_'

At the opening of the third gate, green energy briefly flashed around him as chakra raged and spiraled around his body. His skin turned red and his pupils faded from his eyes, turning them into solid white orbs. The four Naruto's froze as their dōjutsu showed them just how much power he was giving off. And then Lee clenched his fists, and the air surged, distorting his form. '_Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain open!_'

And then he shot at them like a bullet, crashing into the lake and creating an explosion of water.

* * *

><p>"This is... He was hiding that kind of power all this time!?" Sasuke uttered in disbelief as Sakura gripped the rails before her, worried about her teammate.<p>

Hinata took a step back, her face a mask of shock at the power that was being brought against her crush while Neji gaped in disbelief.

'_This is Lee... when... how?_'

"Damn... glad I'm not up against him..." Shikamaru commented. He couldn't think of any way he could win that battle with the skills he had.

"Same here." Temari couldn't help but agree.

Gaara simply stared into the arena with the same impassive gaze as ever, though something the blond said reverberated with him, his mind struggling to comprehend. Naruto said he gained this power to protect the people around him? Such a concept was alien to Gaara... it had been ever since...

He brushed away that thought and returned to watching the battle unfold.

* * *

><p>Naruto's clones hadn't lasted more than a moment after that initial impact, and it revealed that none of them were the real Rinnegan bearer, and so he rapidly traversed the arena, his speed parting the water as he tried to find his opponent. "Where are you hiding!?" He could only maintain this jutsu for a short while. He had to end this before his time ran out or he'd have nothing left.<p>

Naruto meanwhile, was hiding. It wasn't his style, but his and Sasuke's near death experience in Wave and Zabuza's training made him a bit more pragmatic. He was perfectly willing to wait out the technique, fused with the arena wall using the Hiding in Surface jutsu.

Against anyone else, it probably would have worked, but with Lee's natural instincts honed to such an insane degree even by shinobi standards, his body trained to the point that it could move and run even while sleeping, it only took him a scant five seconds before he noticed Naruto's presence. "There you are!"

He crashed into that spot in the arena with enough force to shatter it, sending large chunks of stone flying in different directions. From the largest, Naruto emerged, leaping backwards out of it with the slab between him and his opponent. Seeing only option, Naruto closed his eyes and tapped into the power buried deep within him.

Lee tore the slab of stone in two as he moved to attack the blond. At that moment, Naruto opened his eyes, catching Lee's attack much to the green clad boy's shock as crimson chakra swirled around his form. This time there was no physical transformation, only the chakra. "You're not the only one with a few trump cards, Lee!"

* * *

><p>"When did he learn to...?" Kotetsu wondered aloud.<p>

* * *

><p>"That's-!" Kakashi began, clearly surprised.<p>

"This chakra..." Zabuza's eyes narrowed, that crimson energy all too familiar to him, having known someone like Naruto in the past. '_I see... so that's why everyone looks at him that way._'

"No way... Kakashi, when did you teach him that?" Kurenai asked, rounding on the silver haired jounin.

"I didn't..." 'Jiraiya... so this is what you wanted him to learn...'

"I knew he'd be able to call on that chakra eventually... but this soon?" Asuma mused aloud.

"They normally start much sooner. He'll be fine, I'm sure." Kakashi replied, his eye narrowing as he looked into the arena. "The question is; will that level be enough to overcome the Hidden Lotus?"

"What are you all talking about? What the hell is that chakra?" Ino asked, clearly anxious to know.

"Don't mind us." Asuma told his blonde student. "It's nothing you need to worry about." The girl glared but recognized she wasn't going to get an answer and chose to remain silent, fuming quietly as her eyes returned to the battle.

* * *

><p>For once Gaara was clearly shocked as he sensed chakra startlingly familiar to a power of his own, while the Kazekage's expression mirrored his.<p>

"What... where did this power come from?" Sasuke questioned aloud, his Sharingan telling him exactly how much chakra it was.

"That's what I want to know! He sure as hell couldn't do anything like that in the academy!" Kiba demanded. Hinata was staring with wide eyes, but decided not to activate her dōjutsu.

Neji chose differently and his Byakugan blazed to life allowing him too to see how much power was radiating from Naruto... before both dōjutsu using boys saw the silhouette of a crimson fox glaring at them.

'_What was...?_' Sasuke wondered.

'_What did I just see?_' Neji questioned.

* * *

><p>Naruto threw Lee away, knowing he may have gotten the drop on him there, but he couldn't fight him directly. He managed to summon four more clones before Lee touched down on the water and launched himself at him again, tearing a hole through the resulting cloud of smoke.<p>

From then on, echoes of collisions and rippled in the water burst across the arena as Naruto and his clones used the Body Flicker in rapid succession, further enhanced by the Kyuubi's power, and their numbers to counter Lee, keeping him distracted with constant assaults of speed rivaling his own from all directions while the others pelted him with weapons. The bowl haired boy clearly had the upper hand as burst of smoke were intermittent in the clashes as the clones were destroyed and replaced.

As Naruto weaved the hand seals for a jutsu, Lee suddenly plowed into him from the right side, slamming his foot into the blond's arm and sending him flying. Seeing that he didn't disappear, flashed into Naruto's path and struck again, but at that moment two clones clashed with him once again, keeping him from continuing his assault as Naruto plowed into the wall with enough force to create a pit three times his size.

The Rinnegan bearer clutched his shoulder, pain which didn't dull like the rest of his injuries radiating from it as he pulled himself out of the body shaped indentation he left in the wall before running through hand signs and returning to the fight, gritting his teeth as he ignored the intense stabbing sensation from his joint as best he could. All this happened in a matter of seconds, few without dōjutsu able to see anything more than a few rapid movements, an impact and burst of debris from the wall and then said cloud being blown away as Naruto returned to the battle.

For about half a minute, these exchanges repeated themselves across the battlefield. Blood leaked from Lee's nose and mouth as his muscles tore themselves apart, while unbeknownst to him the Kyuubi's power healed Naruto's injuries, which the blond felt he was very lucky for. Those strikes were incredibly powerful, far stronger than his own. Without his healing factor, the taijutsu expert would have quickly chipped away at Naruto's defenses and left him helpless. When he did strike the real Naruto, he would be set upon by the clones and the damage would heal for the most part. Lee knew he was running out of time, and quickly.

Three of the clones landed on different areas of the wall and summoned hundreds of kunai and shuriken, launching them at Lee is such volumes that the bowl haired boy was put in mind of his kunoichi teammate's greatest techniques. Some were targeted, others just a smokescreen and many bore explosive seals, erupting in balls of flame and yet Lee evaded them all. He jumped to the edge of the arena, zipping along the walls and destroying the clones one by one, the last one launching itself at him and managed to bury its fist into his gut at the cost of taking a blow itself, destroying it.

And then there were two. He leapt back as one slammed into the wall where he'd been before, kicking up a cloud of debris as chunks of stone burst out before the other one of whom grappled him as they fought on one of the walls while the other appeared behind him with a kunai. He destroyed the one holding him in place, leaving him with a single Naruto who was forced to disengage and throw the dagger before fleeing with a Body Flicker, narrowly escaping retaliation.

He appeared on wall on the far side of the arena and cocked his fist back as wisps of crimson chakra whipped around his arm. With a roar he punched forward. The motion unleashed a shock wave with a boom that echoed throughout the stadium as it tore a path in the water, sending large sprays into the air as it shot towards Lee. The taijutsu expert jumped away before it reached him. It crashed into the walls of the arena and carved a deep fissure in its surface, cracks spreading out in a spider web formation as Lee appeared on that same barricade a ways away from the sight of the most recent attack.

'_I won't last much longer..._' Lee noted. '_I have enough strength for one last attack... so I can't afford to miss! I'll put my all into this final attack!_' He stopped, clenching his fists and focusing once more. '_Fifth Gate: Gate of Closing open!_' Another flash of green light, and he prepared for his final attack. "I may not win this match... but I will not be the only one who loses here!"

Seeing this Naruto bent his legs, tensing the muscles like a spring with all the power of the malicious chakra flowing through him. "We'll see about that! End of the line, Lee!"

And then they launched themselves at each other, and there was a massive explosion of force that pushed the water beneath it away, exposing the ground as winds whipped across the arena, forcing many in the stands and all in the fighter's booth to shield their eyes.

And from the wall of water at the edge of the blast emerged Lee, careening through the air before skipping across the turbulent waters like a stone and then coming to a stop, sinking into it. But... there was no sign of Naruto.

And then it became clear why when the kunai he had thrown right before the end burst into smoke, to reveal... the real Naruto, who allowed the crimson chakra to fade. The blond looked a bit worse for wear; his new cloths aside from his sturdier vest had been torn in several places, there were scuffs all over his body and he could feel slight bruises forming beneath his shirt, but the Kyuubi's power had mended the worst of the damage, otherwise he'd be left with major internal hemorrhaging and fractured if not broken bones.

One thing it couldn't do, however, was reset a dislocated shoulder, the blond realized as he rubbed the tender joint. Fortunately, it also didn't seem to make much attempt to mend what it couldn't heal; otherwise he may have needed surgery to fix the injury.

Naruto stood up and ran over to Lee, who didn't have the strength to stay above the water's surface and helped him up.

"Naruto..?" He questioned in a weary voice. "Ah, I see... that was another clone."

"Yep, sorry about that," Naruto grinned impishly. "You were really amazing out there, Lee."

"Thank you."

'_I don't think this stadium's been more in need of repairs since that time that jackass from Iwa pissed off Kushina..._' Genma thought to himself as he eyed the damage to the walls, not to mention the water. He then turned to the two genin and smiled. '_It looks like the next generation's a promising one. Should have seen that coming when this year's new jonin senseis all nominated their teams..._' "Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"

* * *

><p><strong>And so ends the first, and by far longest, battle of the finals. I doubt any of the rest will even be half as long as that one. Hope you enjoyed it.<strong>

**As always, please review.**


End file.
